WE DISTIL SUSTAINABILITY.
At Ziegler, sustainability is not just lip service: it’s genuine lived reality. All along our value chain, we are very thorough. We constantly review and optimise our processes, so it’s only logical that we no longer import sugarcane from the Caribbean, eliminating rum from our product portfolio. And, beyond that, we will continue to gladly shoulder emerging responsibilities.
THE BASIS OF OUR EXISTENCE.
Not only consuming less, but also actively supporting the right things. This an integral part of our commitment to sustainability: namely, preserving the best fruits of our planet so they will be available for future generations to savour. To accomplish this, we have been working with experienced cone pickers and fruit farmers for decades.
THE WILD MEADOW FUND.
But that’s not all. Ziegler is launching a project that’s very close to our hearts. The “Ziegler Wild Meadow Fund” protects local biodiversity and orchards. This initiative for nature conservation and regionality helps to restore meadows so they and the diversity of life they harbour can flourish again. This is crucial because biodiversity is dwindling: approximately one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction.
THE FREUDENBERGER.
To give the right emphasis to this initiative, our distillers have created a very special product: the Freudenberger, a wild meadow cuvée! It’s a legendary fruit brandy made from apples and pears grown on the meadow orchards of the Lower Main River Valley. With Freudenberger, you not only taste sustainability, but also directly participate in it – because €5 from the purchase price of each bottle is donated directly to the Ziegler Wild Meadow Fund.
OUR PACKAGING
Of course, the first impression made by a newly delivered product is important. But it is even more important to minimise our use of cardboard packaging. We have consciously chosen to eliminate gift wrapping. We have changed our shipping cartons to natural cardboard. This modification will reduce the weight of our packaging and save about 20 tonnes of cardboard per year. Our operational warehouse logistics are likewise conducted with sustainability in mind. For example, we seal our boxes with sustainable paper adhesive tape.
OUR CORKS.
The traditional Ziegler cork has a metal medallion, the cork itself consists of PE (polyethylene), a petrochemically produced plastic. The new Ziegler cork is made from high-quality natural wood, is bio-based and is therefore the first CO₂-neutral cork. This makes the cork recyclable and results in a real circular model. The metal medallion is completely eliminated in favor of recycling.
OUR BOTTLE.
The weight of a bottle plays a significant role in determining its carbon footprint: the heavier the glass, the greater the CO2 emissions. That’s why we’ve opted for lower weight and recycled glass. This reduces both pallet weight and cargo volume, thus making transport more efficient. Our recycled glass has a very high shard content of over 2%, on average. This means that less electrical power is needed to melt the glass.
OUR DISTILLERY.
Of course, we also pay strict attention to the mindful use of resources in our distillery:
- Environmentally friendly power supply
- Less paper by minimising printouts and photocopies
- Repurposing of old barrels to build bar tables, garden tables, etc.
- Distillation waste (stillage) is passed along to farmers, who use it as fertiliser
- Fruit wastes (e.g., wild cherry pits) are used for reforestation