WInery achieves five major international standards

MEDIA RELEASE 4 June 2008

Pernod Ricard New Zealand first winery to achieve five major international standards

Pernod Ricard New Zealand (formerly Montana Wines) is the first wine company in New Zealand to achieve five top international industry standards relating to quality, environment, health and safety, for all its vineyards, wineries and packaging facility.

All production units of New Zealand’s premier wine and spirits company now comply with the ISO9001 standard for quality management, ISO14001 for environmental management and ISO18001/AS/ANZ4801 for health and safety systems. The Tamaki Packaging and Distribution facility in Auckland is certified to British Retail Consortium standard (BRC) for food safety, while all other sites have been accredited to ISO22000 for food safety.

Fabian Partigliani, Managing Director of Pernod Ricard New Zealand, said, “We recognise our responsibility to adopt the best safety, quality and environmentally sustainable practices in all aspects of our business. This is not only beneficial to our staff, customers and consumers, but also to the wider community and the New Zealand environment.”

“Achieving these global standards has long been a major focus for us and we were also a founding member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) eleven years ago. The programme provides a framework for best practices in the areas of vineyard and winery management and SWNZ is the only wine industry sustainability vehicle in New Zealand, regarded as one of the best programmes of its kind in the world.”

Over recent years, the company developed an integrated QSE management system which was audited independently by SGS New Zealand Limited, the auditing body for the International Standards Organisation (ISO). SGS approved the certifications for Pernod Ricard’s wineries and vineyards in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Waipara and the Tamaki packaging and distribution facility.

“The integrated QSE systems established allows us to benchmark and continually improve all our operational processes towards best practice” says Vijay Singh, Quality, Safety and Environment (QSE) manager for Pernod Ricard New Zealand.

He lauded the company’s operations team for their support and commitment towards continual improvement of QSE systems. “This is key to driving further improvement in our quality, safety and environmental performance.”

Julie MacDonald, New Zealand Business Manager for SGS New Zealand Limited, comments “Pernod Ricard is the first winery in New Zealand to have its management systems assessed and successfully certified against five international standards at the same time.”

“These standards were audited by the New Zealand SSC division of Global Certification body SGS. These certifications confirm Pernod Ricard New Zealand’s commitment to best practise in quality, environment, health and safety and food safety at an international level and to undertake multiple certifications is a credit to Pernod Ricard's Quality team.”

“Our latest achievements show our commitment to the goal of helping New Zealand maintain its clean, green image,” said Partigliani. “We’ll continue to develop sustainable winegrowing so that we can satisfy current needs without compromising the needs or options of future generations.”

ENDS

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