New Zealand Celsias

Villa Maria’s Fabian Yukich is an old hand in the wine industry, having grown up on a vineyard and working at Villa Maria when he was just a teenager. Now working as Villa Maria’s national wineries manager, he tells us why sustainability is becoming a prerequisite in the wine business and how social responsibly fits into the picture. 

Tell us a little more about yourself  

I grew up on my family’s vineyard at Oratia, West Auckland. I first worked at Villa Maria as a teenager, starting off as a cellar hand and later becoming a cellar supervisor. That was back in the 70s. I went to Australia and studied winemaking and worked at a few different wine companies and dabbled in other things too. Eventually I landed back in Villa Maria in 1998 as a project manager for our new winery in Marlborough. I am now the national wineries manager and also a director of Villa Maria. 

Sustainability is...   

Sustainability is not only environmental. It’s also about being socially responsible. It’s about using the organisation in some way to try and make a difference in areas that affect us all. Examples include making presentations to political parties on the ETS. We make submissions to local councils on things like water resource management. We’ve been taking a big interest in glass recycling and have talked to councils and government about the problems with the co-mingling of recyclables. We also take an active interest in the zoning around our area and have objected to heritage land being turned into industrial land. We believe we have a place in the community and that we should represent our concerns about issues around us.

Villa Maria’s owner Sir George Fistonich has always been interested in being responsible in regards to both the environment and as a corporate citizen. Villa Maria joined Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand back in 1995. When we wrote down the objectives for building our new wineries, environmental responsibility was a key goal. Over the last 10 years we have gained Biogro Organic certification for one vineyard and have other blocks in transition to organic. We also now measure our Carbon emissions and have gained CEMARS (Carbon measure & reduction scheme) certification. 

What's the best part about practicing sustainability at work?  

It’s the opportunity to do it. I feel strongly about sustainability issues myself and I know George Fistonich is equally passionate. He doesn’t believe that we should be following. He believes that where we can, we should take a lead. 

And the worst? 

Sometimes trying to do everything all at once can set you up for failure. It’s a matter of picking the key things you can work on. We always see a big world out there and try and do everything but you need focus. 

Sustainability is a journey. If you beat yourself up about things you’re not going to move forward. You’ve got to continuously improve on what you’re doing.

My pearl of wisdom to pioneers in the sustainability space is...   

If your business wants to do things in a sustainable manner, I think it’s really important to get certifications. I used to think you could just do things sustainably, without having to get certified. But now the schemes out there are very good and they have continuous improvements built in as targets.

 Get the certifications because it means you are independently verified for what you’re doing. 

What's the strongest motivation to invest in sustainability in your workplace?  

It’s part of the culture of the organisation, which is driven by George Fistonich. Back in 1998, if you wanted to talk to people about sustainability they weren’t really that interested. Nowadays people phone me and want to talk about sustainability.

If we look at our export markets, particularly in the UK and Europe, they’re very interested in the environment over there. I think they’re noticing the impacts on the environment a lot more than we are. If you’re making a premium product, more and more it’s going to become a prerequisite to have sustainability as part of what you’re doing. It won’t be an extra, it will be something you have to do if you want to be marketing quality wine. Our customers have the ability to make choices about what they’re buying. If they’re spending money, they’d rather buy something that’s made sustainably. That’s a big motivation for us. 

How do New Zealand consumers compare with international consumers when it comes to sustainability awareness? 

I think for such a small country—for us to be relevant, we need to be leaders. I don’t think we’re quite there yet as a country. I think we’re also resting on our clean green image and don’t realise that the goal posts have moved in other countries. People are doing a lot more now compared to 10 years ago. And we need to be doing a lot more too. 

Dear John Key, can you please... 

New Zealanders need to be leaders in sustainability. There are so many ways John Key and the Government can influence that. It’s pleasing to know  New Zealanders didn’t back away from the ETS, regardless of the controversy. Without getting into details, at least we’re on that journey and things will get better over time. 

If I didn’t work I’d be... 

I’d probably get bored. If it’s the weekend, I’m fishing. I like working and I like having projects in front of me. 

My dirty eco sin is that 

I have a boat with an outboard motor 

In 10 year’s time I’ll be...

I’d like to still be involved in the wine industry but not working the same kind of hours I’m working now. I’d like to reclaim some of my weekends.