Sustainability: Schenk invests six million in the Bacio della Luna winery
The company, which specialises in Prosecco, will be 70% self-sufficient and is also banking on an increase in tourist numbers to boost its turnover, which currently stands at 37 million (Schenk Italia’s turnover is 140 million)
The winery Bacio della Luna di Vidor in the Conegliano and Valdobbiadene Hills – owned by Schenk Italia, a major player with a turnover of 140 million euros – has announced a total investment of six million euros in a sustainability plan.
The company states that the planned works will make it possible to meet up to 70% of its electricity requirements, increase storage capacity by 2,000 pallets, and bring back in-house some of the goods destined for the domestic market, which are currently managed at an external warehouse.
More specifically, the project involves spending €500,000 on the installation of solar panels. An initial 1,026 m² system has already been installed on the roof of the winery shop and provides 20% of the current energy requirements. With the new installation of panels on top of the autoclaves, the winery will be able to generate 60% of its current energy requirements. One million euros will be allocated to covering the wine vats, which will reduce the use of electric cooling systems by 10%, keeping the vats cooler in summer and warmer in winter. A further two million euros will be used to purchase new autoclaves for refermentation, a capping machine and other more energy-efficient production equipment. The largest item of expenditure, approximately €2.5 million, will be for the refurbishment of the historic warehouses, including the removal of asbestos-containing materials and the preservation of a historic section linked to the old furnace and listed by the Department of Fine Arts.
“We view sustainability as an opportunity to be fully exploited to improve our production process, and certainly not as a cost to be borne,” comments Daniele Simoni, CEO of Schenk Italia – and these kinds of choices have proved successful and have enabled us, under both Industry 4.0 and 5.0, to reap significant benefits in our production process, making it not only more economically sustainable but also more flexible, which is exactly what the market demands at this time of great uncertainty.”
Furthermore, in support of the development of the Conegliano and Valdobbiadene Hills UNESCO site, which has seen a 35.4% increase in tourist numbers (+48% in foreign tourists), the company has announced its intention to recruit two new staff members.
