The Drinks Business Green Awards 2026 has opened for entries ahead of a new one-day sustainability forum and awards ceremony in November. The programme will include panel discussions, tastings and a new award recognising the role of co-operative wine producers.
Entries have opened for The Drinks Business Green Awards 2026, with submissions accepted until 18 September.
The awards will return in November on a date to be confirmed, bringing together the drinks trade to recognise environmental and ethical progress across wine, spirits, beer and the wider supply chain.
This year, the ceremony will form the conclusion of a new daytime programme called Green Day, designed to examine practical sustainability challenges facing the sector.
New co-operative award introduced
A new category, Best Co-operative Wine Producer of the Year, has been added to the 2026 awards.
According to the category criteria, the award will recognise a co-operative wine producer that has demonstrated excellence through the strength of its collaborative model.
Judges will assess wine quality, innovation and sustainable production, alongside the support provided to grower members and local communities.
Entrants will also be expected to show how collective ownership has delivered measurable benefits for members and improved long term business performance. Particular attention will be paid to achievements during the past 12 months and evidence of leadership in advancing the co-operative model across the global wine industry.
Green Day to examine the practical questions
Green Day will feature a series of panel discussions focused on the realities of implementing sustainability programmes.
One session will explore biodiversity, asking how estates are reversing soil and habitat loss and whether greater biodiversity can affect the taste of wine.
A second discussion will examine sustainability certification and reporting, including the financial and administrative burden of environmental labels and whether such schemes influence consumer purchasing.
Co-operatives and technology will also feature, with a panel considering how collaborative structures can give smaller growers access to tools such as vineyard drones and digital management systems.
A further session will look at Fairtrade and ethical labour practices across international drinks production.
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Tasting programme expands
Alongside the discussions, Green Day will include a walk-around tasting for producers, importers and regional bodies.
A dedicated tasting zone will feature the highest-scoring wines from the Global Green Masters series, together with certified sustainable wines and bottles produced by co-operatives.
The programme will also provide space for a dedicated presentation or masterclass.
Participating producers will receive supporting online coverage, including published tasting commentary and promotion through social media.
Awards build on 2025 winners
The 2026 event follows last year’s Green Awards, which marked the 16th edition of the competition.
As reported by the drinks business, the 2025 winners included Sogrape for Best Logistics and Supply Chain Green Initiative, Domaine Bousquet for Green Company of the Year and The Wine Society for Green Retailer of the Year.
Concha y Toro received the Amorim Sustainability Award for a Producer, while Porto Protocol won the corresponding award for an organisation.
Stephen Cronk of Maison Mirabeau was named Green Personality of the Year and Tony Cleary MBE received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to renewable energy, low-carbon packaging and bulk shipping within the UK wine trade.
Sustainability as commercial strategy
The awards arrive as drinks companies increasingly connect environmental improvement with stronger commercial performance.
Last year’s winners demonstrated how sustainability programmes can reduce water and energy use, improve soil health and cut packaging weight. Several also showed that environmental progress can provide a clearer brand story for consumers and trade buyers.
Green Day will extend that conversation beyond the ceremony, giving producers and suppliers a forum in which to discuss the cost, credibility and practical value of environmental action.
The Drinks Business Green Awards 2026 is now open for entries, with the deadline set for 18 September.
Related news
The Drinks Business Green Awards shortlist 2025
Facts Only
* The Drinks Business Green Awards 2026 entries are open until September 18th.
* The event will feature a new one-day sustainability forum and awards ceremony in November.
* The programme will include panel discussions, tastings, and a new award for co-operative wine producers.
* A new category is "Best Co-operative Wine Producer of the Year."
* The criteria for the new award assess collaborative models, innovation, sustainable production, support for members, and measurable benefits from collective ownership over the past 12 months.
* Green Day will feature panel discussions on biodiversity impact, sustainability certification/reporting, co-operatives and technology use, and Fairtrade/ethical labour practices.
* Green Day includes a walk-around tasting featuring Global Green Masters wines and certified sustainable wines from co-operatives.
* 2025 winners included Sogrape (Best Logistics), Domaine Bousquet (Green Company of the Year), and The Wine Society (Green Retailer of the Year).
* Stephen Cronk was named Green Personality of the Year, and Tony Cleary MBE received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Executive Summary
The Drinks Business Green Awards 2026 have opened for entries, with a deadline of September 18th, ahead of a new sustainability forum and awards ceremony scheduled for November. The event will feature panel discussions, tastings, and a new award recognizing co-operative wine producers. A new category, Best Co-operative Wine Producer of the Year, is introduced, which will assess collaborative models, innovation, sustainable production, and support for grower members.
The accompanying Green Day programme will focus on practical sustainability challenges through panel discussions on topics such as biodiversity impact on wine taste, the financial and administrative aspects of sustainability certification, the role of co-operatives and technology in grower access to tools, and ethical labour practices in international production. The event will also include a tasting session featuring wines from the Global Green Masters series and certified sustainable producers.
The awards follow the 2025 event, which recognized achievements such as Sogrape for logistics, Domaine Bousquet for the company of the year, and recognition for individuals like Stephen Cronk and Tony Cleary MBE regarding sustainability contributions in the wine trade. The context suggests an increasing convergence between environmental improvement and commercial performance, with previous winners demonstrating how sustainability initiatives can reduce resource use and enhance brand narratives.
Full Take
The introduction of the "Best Co-operative Wine Producer of the Year" award signals a structural shift in how the drinks trade values collaborative models within the supply chain, moving beyond purely production metrics to assess the efficacy of the collective structure itself as a driver of sustainability. The focus on measuring the "measurable benefits for members and improved long term business performance" introduces a tension between idealistic sustainability goals and concrete commercial outcomes—a crucial area where many collective structures often struggle to provide quantifiable proof.
The Green Day discussions reveal an attempt to translate abstract environmental concerns into practical, operational realities across the sector. Examining biodiversity impacts alongside certification burdens forces a confrontation between ecological imperatives and administrative realities faced by producers and the broader market. The inclusion of technology and co-operative access to tools suggests an acknowledgement that sustainability implementation is heavily mediated by access to capital and knowledge, rather than just intent.
The pattern emerging is the linkage of environmental action directly into commercial strategy. When sustainability is framed solely as a cost center or an external compliance measure, it often fails to gain traction unless it is demonstrably linked to market advantage. The ceremony structure—combining high-level recognition with practical education via Green Day—suggests an effort to force a paradigm shift where environmental responsibility is integrated into the business model, rather than being appended as an optional initiative. The system attempts to bridge the gap between the value of collective action and its observable commercial return, acknowledging that credit and reward must be tied to demonstrated efficacy.
Bridge Questions: If the co-operative award is highly valued by producers but lacks standardized metrics for assessing collaborative impact across diverse geographical contexts, how can the judging process ensure equity rather than favoring large or established entities? What specific frameworks should be developed to quantify the non-monetary value derived from ecosystem health and ethical labour practices in wine production? How does integrating these practical forums into an awards ceremony risk turning substantive critique into performative demonstration?
Sentinel — Human
The text functions as a standard press release/news report, effectively synthesizing details about an industry awards event and a related sustainability forum, relying on established factual reporting structures.