There is a vineyard in the heart of Napa Valley that is a legend among wine cognoscenti; and one wine estate above all others that is celebrated for the wines it makes from it. Darius Sanai embarks on a tasting of Schrader’s celebrated To Kalon vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons

Schrader’s wines come from the heart of the Napa Valley in California

Anyone who enjoys the world’s great wines will have been asked a variation of the following question by a friend or acquaintance who is not a wine drinker: why are they worth it?

Top wines cost hundreds or even thousands of pounds/euros/dollars a bottle. What is it about a liquid, opened and dispatched over the course of a couple of hours, that is so much better than other bottles of very similar liquid, on sale for a fraction of the price?

My favourite answer is that a great wine makes you think. It carves its own conversation and memory in your mind. It has a depth and breadth of complexity which starts, like any foodstuff, with your sensory organs (smell, taste, sight, touch), but which then transfers into your brain to engrave itself on your experience.

Great food also has sensory complexity (and can also be expensive and confined to the very wealthy). But wine has two qualities which are unavailable to food: a bottle of wine accompanies you and your companions during the course of a part of a day (rather than as a course in a meal), taking part and assisting in numerous conversations. And a great wine evolves, and has a different conversation with you over the space of a couple of hours. The greatest wines leave a city’s worth of impressions on your mind.

I was thinking of this during our tasting of Schrader Cellars wines. Schrader is one of the big names of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: if you are a hedge fund titan in New York, an oil magnate in Dallas or an entertainment investor in LA, you will likely know the winery.

 

 

 

Jason Smith, Master Sommelier at Schrader

The first three wines we tried – three of the winery’s flagships – were all from a legendary piece of land, the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard in Napa Valley.

Drive by Beckstoffer To Kalon on Highway 29, the main road bisecting the valley, and you would be forgiven for missing it. Unlike some of the spectacular vineyards of the region, perched amid hillside forests or on mountainsides, To Kalon is flat, on the valley floor, just an array of vines. But then, so are vineyards like those around Chateau Latour or Chateau Petrus or Chateau Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux. Visual appeal has no relationship to vineyard quality.

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Like a Burgundy vineyard, To Kalon has a number of different wine estates making wines from its esteemed grapes; Schrader is probably the most celebrated. But what makes Schrader, as well as this vineyard site of To Kalon, so special?

The To Kalon vineyard is on the valley floor of Napa, touted by forested mountains

Jason Smith, the urbane, cosmopolitan General Manager of Schrader, with whom we had our tasting, is too modest to give a direct answer: it’s a combination of the vines and the winemaking. Smith is a rarity in that he is a Master Sommelier running a prestigious winery; and as such has real insider knowledge of the fabulous restaurants which manage to get their hands on a small stock of Schrader wines. He says the wines are best drunk over dinner with a small group of friends; although the wines weave such a conversation we would be happy to drink them alone.

Tasting notes by Darius Sanai

Schrader Cellars Heritage Clone 2019

So many layers wash over your senses when you sip this wine: as soon as you think you have separated and worked out the different elements, more arrive to replace them. If it were an artwork, it would be a late-period Rembrandt: on first note, a portrait of a person, then you notice the eyes, the unfinished sleeve, the posture; keep looking, and keep sipping, and more nuances appear and others disappear. Unlike a Rembrandt, this will improve over time: its conversation will be even more fascinating in 2029 or later.

Schrader Cellars CCS 2019

The To Kalon vineyard is cooled by breezes and fogs coming in from nearby San Francisco Bay

Schrader is very scientific over which parts of the To Kalon vineyard make which of its wines. CCS is made from grapes from nearest the centre of Napa Valley itself, near the river. The soil is full of mineral deposits, which apparently make the wine balanced, lifted. My impression was of a wave of blues, greens, greys and reds; its conversation was playful yet intellectual, never too heavy, but always very precise. It reminded me of a Chagall; not one of his sadder paintings, but a more joyful work, figures flying, but always with a poignant poetry behind it. Again, I would keep my next bottle for a few years, as this conversation developed as the evening went on.

Schrader Cellars RBS 2019

For me, the most famous of Schrader’s wines and the only one I had tried before, in various different vintages. This is not a wine that hides its qualities behind its coat. It is made from the warmest part of the vineyard, and Napa does get very hot in summer, although To Kalon is mitigated by both the fact that it is near the cooling effect of the Bay, and that the valley floor has cooling fogs flowing in from the Bay and the Pacific, which can also keep sunshine off. So with the richness comes a balance. Still, this is a showcase wine with power and wow factor: a Damien Hirst sculpture of a wine, a showcase. I would drink this anytime from now, but ensure Alain Ducasse was around in my kitchen to cook up a tenderloin with foie gras or alternatively a morel mushroom casserole with plenty of truffle and parsley, to accompany it.

Read more: A tasting of Vérité wines with Hélène Sellian

Double Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

The wine made for people who can’t afford or don’t want to broach the fabulously expensive wines above, I expected Double Diamond to be a bit of a disappointment, like the second wines of top Bordeaux chateaux are sometimes. But hell no. Although it’s made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, like all the wines here, Double Diamond is sourced from outside To Kalon (but within Napa Valley), and it’s altogether a different conversation. Open, delicious, very sophisticated in its own right, perhaps less demanding of your attention and conversation than the artworks above, which require the limelight; ready to drink now and not really needing a food accompaniment. A mid-career contemporary artist, perhaps Flora Yuhnkovich, enjoying their success.

Find out more: schradercellars.com

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Reading time: 5 min
A raw diamond in someone's hand
people walking in builder outfits through a mine

Petra Diamonds – Cullinan Diamond Mine – Boodles Site Visit

Boodles, the globally-renowned sixth generation family business, is pioneering sustainability in the diamond and jewellery industry, using technology to trace each diamond and working closely with their workers and the mines to ensure a healthy environment for both the community and the land. Here, Honour and Jody Wainwright, descendants of the founders of Boodles, speak to Samantha Welsh about the company’s values and commitment to sustainable practices

LUX: What are Boodles’ values that make you a leader among the ‘best of British’ luxury brands?
Honour Wainwright: and Jody Wainwright: Boodles’ principal point of difference is that we are a sixth-generation family business in operation since our founding in 1798. I am the sixth generation and my twin brother and two cousins also work for the business. We prioritise looking after our clients and host up to 250 events each year for them. Events give us an opportunity to entertain our loyal customers, allow the Directors to get to know them, to give them a lovely day out and to thank them in person for their loyalty. We also value design and currently have six in-house designers, two based in our flagship New Bond Street store, and four at Head Office in Liverpool. We launch a High Jewellery collection each year, this year’s concept being ‘A Family Journey: Around Europe in 10 Days’ inspired by a trip our Chairman, Nicholas Wainwright undertook to buy stones, meet suppliers and gain inspiration for the collection, in so doing replicating the trip taken by his father in 1962.

A raw diamond in someone's hand

Craftsmanship is at the core of Boodles. All Boodles jewellery is designed and hand-finished in the UK at our London workshops. We also use Single Mine Origin gold in all of our jewellery, which comes from the Yanfolila mine in Mali. Boodles know that sustainability and traceability is extremely important. Inevitably, our younger customers value this more and we therefore regard it as something that is essential for our own peace of mind, but also an investment in the future of our business. We also launched a high jewellery collection called ‘Peace of Mined’ featuring diamonds from the Cullinan Mine extracted only weeks before the collection launched.

LUX: You share Boodles’ passion and reputation for offering inimitable stones; what are the primary considerations when selecting a stone?
HW & JW: Boodles are unique as when sourcing stones we usually buy the rough diamonds direct from the mine. At Boodles we are looking for exceptional gemstones, Jody Wainwright, our Director of Precious Gemstones and Diamonds, says a stone has to ‘talk’ to him.

A mine with cranes and scaffolding

© Ben Phillips

LUX: What is your ‘mine-to-market’ process that transforms a rough mineral into a personal treasure?
HW & JW: At Boodles, this process begins with our directors hand-picking and sourcing stones from mines and suppliers, whom we have been dealing with for many generations. They are then taken to our London workshop where they are cut by Boodles’ master diamond cutter, Clive, who we call our ‘5th C’ extending the traditional 4Cs grading system. The stones are skilfully polished, set by our in-house designers, and transported onward to our UK showrooms for display

LUX: How has the Boodles approach to partnerships succeeded in creating an influential U/HNW ecosystem?
HW & JW: From gallery exhibitions to horse racing, Boodles is known for the sheer variety of its events and their number, – we hosted 250 events last year. After a fantastic inaugural year in 2022, our partnership as lead sponsor for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup was renewed in 2023. At the home of Jump Racing, the Boodles pink logo was omnipresent throughout the Festival’s ITV broadcast. This year’s partnership was launched through a photo shoot with 2022’s Gold Cup Winner Rachael Blackmore on London’s iconic ‘Bond Street with previous Gold Cup Winner, Native River. As the first female jockey to win the Gold Cup and BBC’s World Sport Star of the Year in 2021, Rachael is the perfect embodiment of a Boodles Brand Ambassador. It is no surprise that Boodles will be partnering with the Gold Cup again in 2024 to celebrate its highly anticipated centenary. It provides a special day out for our clients and an opportunity for them to attend a world-renowned sporting event whilst allowing the Boodles team to really get to know their clients and their families.

A rose gold and diamond ring

2023 also saw Boodles present our third garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, in collaboration with esteemed British garden designer, Tom Hoblyn. ‘The Boodles Best of British Garden’ was awarded a Silver-Gilt medal. Post-Covid, sports events resumed: Boodles’ warm-up for Wimbledon concluded its 19th edition within genteel surroundings at Stoke Park, we had a successful pop-up tournament at Quinta do Lago Resort in the Algarve, and The Boodles Boxing Ball returned, raising more money than ever for charity, and the list goes on.

LUX: How did the partnership between Boodles and the Cullinan Mine begin?
HW & JW: The Cullinan mine is very special to Boodles. It was visited by my great uncle, the late Anthony Wainwright, during one of his many expeditions overseas in search of fine stones. He found it magical, laden with mysteries — and shared tales of the jewels in its depths with his grandson, my cousin. When Jody was just a small boy, Anthony died and his son Nicholas followed on in his footsteps, visiting the mine in the mid-1990s. He returned equally enchanted — and his experience of the Cullinan Mine inspired Jody with a new suite of legends.

people standing in helmets and white outfits in a mine

Petra Diamonds – Cullinan Diamond Mine – Boodles Site Visit

I went down the Cullinan Mine with my parents last February and had an amazing experience. They don’t open the mine to anyone other than principal shareholders. My twin brother and cousins have also recently visited the mine and seeing the process of mining a Cullinan diamond has been fascinating.

The story is fantastic and Boodles have a passion for these stones. Each stone is securely helicoptered to the Johannesburg Head Office, then onward to our London diamond cutters, then into our shops, so there is a total chain of custody.

We find that customers love to know that their Boodles piece featuring a Cullinan diamond was mined only 6 months ago. We create a lovely book charting the progress of the stone through all the stages of refinement into the final finished piece of jewellery.

A boiling gold pour

LUX: What can you share about upcoming developments?
HW & JW: We have discussed opportunities for potential international event partnerships in Florida, Texas, Bermuda and Barbados. We are partnering with a third gold mine which opens up in Guinea in Q4, and Jody will attend the official launch. This, together with Yanfolila Mine mentioned earlier in Mali, and Ity Mine in Côte d’Ivoire have each received independent certification to an internationally recognised responsibility standard, so that every ounce of Single Mine Origin (SMO) gold comes with a fully auditable QR code that traces its origins and journey. We are working towards all our diamonds being fully traceable and currently we have a large selection from the Cullinan Mine in South Africa. A number of our larger diamonds now also come from mines such as the Kao Mine in Lesotho, South Africa, and the Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine in Canada. We are also beginning to look at some new mines that uphold high sustainability standards and share their efforts through their respective websites.

Find out more: boodles.com

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Reading time: 6 min
A house in a green field
A chef with a basket picking vegetables in a garden

Chef Davide Guidara in the garden of Veuve Clicquot

The champagne house Veuve Clicquot hosted a lunch in Paris in which eight chefs, hailing from Switzerland, France, Italy, Japan and the UK created dishes using only the produce from Veuve Clicquot’s garden in Reims to perfectly match La Grande Dame, its prestige champagne. The results were anything but expected. Candice Tucker reports

Over 200 years ago Madame Clicquot, the founder of Veuve Cliquot is said to have said, “If, in the search for perfection, we can take two steps at a time, why be content with just one?” This single statement was the inspiration behind Veuve Clicquot’s plan to gather some of the world’s greatest chefs to create a fine dining meal solely using produce from the estate’s garden, where “Grand Cru” vegetables mix with Grand Cru grapes. The event was intended to show that La Grande Dame, is a champagne to be enjoyed at the heart of any meal to compliment the fine food.

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The participating chefs were picked from regions renowned for their culinary traditions. Representing France were esteemed chefs Amélie Darvas and Emmanuel Renaut. From Italy, Domingo Schingaro, Enrico Crippa and Alberto Toè. Sally Abé represented the UK and Dario Cadonau, Switzerland. Japanese culinary excellence was demonstrated by Kanji Kobayashi.

A group chefs standing next to eachother

Left to right: Emmanuel Renaut, Sally Abé, Kanji Kobayashi, Alberto Toé, Dario Cadonau, Enrico Crippa, Amélie Darvas, Domingo Schingaro

What made this event so extraordinary was not just the culinary talent on display, but the unique constraint faced by each of the chefs: dishes had to be crafted using only products from Veuve Clicquot’s garden, while perfectly matching La Grande Dame champagne.

A table with yellow and wood chairs set

The Garden of Gastronomy event in Paris

The dishes that emerged from this culinary challenge were nothing short of spectacular. Among them were Cadonau’s garden herbs and yellow beets presented with an intricate lace pattern detailing framing the plate, constructed using herbs to adorn the dish with edible flowers, resembling the picture of a garden.

A dish with green lace herb detailing framing a plate of beetroots in a white source with herbs and edible flowers

Dario Cadonau’s Garden herbs with yellow beets

Domingo Schingaro created a dish based on lettuce with almond and anchovies; whilst anchovies might normally be the focal taste of a dish, they were simply used as a condiment in this case, not taking any attention away from the star of the show, the lettuce cooked to crunchy perfection in a yuzu sauce.

A chef preparing ravioli in green leaves

Amélie Darvas working on her Marigold ravioli, Hungarian Blue Squash, tomato water and fig leaf maceration

The champagne’s complexity, with its layers of citrus, floral, and fruity notes, found its perfect companions in the carefully composed dishes. The result was a symphony of flavours that danced on the palate, highlighting the quality of both the champagne and the garden produce.

Read more: Veuve Clicquot CEO Jean-Marc Gallot on the spirit of the iconic brand

The champagne was also poured into both narrow and wide glasses, depending on the meal, changing both its taste and texture to match the food being eaten.

A chef wearing a long white hat and uniform holding a bottle of champagne in a field

Chef Tadayoshi Kimura in the Veuve Clicquot garden finding produce to match La Grande Dame

Veuve Clicquot’s Garden of Gastronomy event in Paris was a celebration of culinary creativity. This event highlighted the versatility of prestige champagne in fine dining  and showed how a delicate complex and multi-layered champagne like La Grande Dame can be a brilliant match to an astonishing variety of food.

Find out more: veuveclicquot.com

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Reading time: 3 min
Two women standing on either side of frames hung on the walls of a gallery
Two women standing on either side of frames hung on the walls of a gallery

Founders of Shrine Empire Shefali Somani (left) and Anahita Taneja (right)

Anahita Taneja & Shefali Somani founded Shrine Empire in 2008 with a mission to support South Asian artists. Here the gallerists speak to Samantha Welsh about the development of India’s art scene and the importance of collaboration to build up South Asia’s art community

LUX: How did you start to work together?
Anahita Taneja & Shefali Somani: Back in 2006 we met over a sale of an artwork and found common links in Kolkata, India. That was when we first decided to collaborate and work together on a group exhibition in 2007. It led us to work further together as two separate entities, the Shrine Gallery and Empire Art, in exhibitions in Singapore and then the first edition of India Art Fair. Over a period of time, we realised that we had a similar vision and believed in practices of similar artists in South Asia, so we joined hands and started Shrine Empire in 2008.

A room with art and a red light a man sitting on a bench watching a video from a projector

Yoshinori Niwa, Our Human Spirit Under Capitalism, Prameya Art Foundation, curated by Anushka Rajendran

LUX: What was ground-breaking about what Prameya Art Foundation (PRAF) offered?
AT & SS: In India we’ve only had a handful of art foundations who have consistently done good work. Due to the dearth of funding and patronage, many private entities have had to take not-for-profit initiatives under their belt and promote the growth of the art community in India. We realised the need for an institution which would help to build the art ecosystem, would provide opportunities for artists, writers and curators, and create international partnerships to help build a network to benefit the community here. It was the need of the hour.

A white room with simple art works on the walls

Neerja Kothari, Keeping Score, Shrine Empire

What made Prameya Art Foundation stand out from the rest was that we supported initiatives that never really had any funding or support in India. For example, PRAF Publish which is our artist book grant, Art Scribes Award, our residency and exhibition grant for curators, PRAF Participatory which leads international artists workshops and exhibitions, Pair Award offering grants to mid-career artists, and our imminent launch of India’s first major video production grant.

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With PRAF Participatory (one of our initial programs) we have invited artists like Sue Williamson (South Africa), Paul Wong (Canada), Bracha I. Ettinger (France), and Yoshinori Niwa (Japan) all of whom have visited India as part of this programme, and have collaborated with invited artists and creative practitioners from this country to create artworks.

A room with art and a red light a man sitting on a bench watching a video from a projector

Rehabilitating our human spirit under capitalism by Yoshinori Niwa, curated by Anushka Rajendran

LUX: Which art weeks and fairs are particularly impactful for South Asian artists?
AT & SS: For South Asian artists, India Art Fair, Art Basel Hongkong and Art Dubai are some fairs which bring focus to artists from the region. Kochi Muziris Biennale, Colomboscope, Kathmandu Triennale and Dhaka Art Summit in fact have a larger and more significant importance, as they hold well curated conversations around artists from South Asia where curators, writers and collections get to view more of their work and bring focus and attention towards their practice.

LUX: What conversations will you be mediating through your partnership with Hello India Art Awards?
AT & SS: The collaboration of Shrine Empire with Hello India Art Awards promotes recognition for artists, curators, writers and other contributors in this field, offering them encouragement and recognition in the industry. The Award also gives a small grant to the winners and recognises certain categories such as best writer, best performance artist, best public-led initiative amongst others which otherwise do not get their due importance or support. We hope to build further patronage through initiatives like these.

A woman wearing an orange dress standing next to a woman in a grey and white outfit standing between two paintings on walls

Shrine Empire was founded in 2008 by Shefali Somani (left) and Anahita Taneja (right)

LUX: Where do you see future opportunities for engagement?
AT & SS: We hope to open up the world to India with further international collaborations and opportunities for our community here. We see a scope of growth through dialogue and engagement with other communities beyond the arts creating exposure and conversation around it. In developing our dialogue and keeping South Asia as our focus, we hope to build initiatives which help, support and create future opportunities.

LUX: What was the vision for Shrine Empire?
AT & SS: Shrine Empire was envisioned as a space to show contemporary art practices from South Asia that were relevant to context of the times and region that they belonged to. We have worked to fulfil this vision for the past fifteen years.

Wooden benches with cushions on them in a room with blue walls and small pictures on the walls

Forestial Flock Curated by Adwait Singh, Shrine Empire

LUX: How was the contemporary art market in India at that time?
AT & SS: When we started Shrine Empire, the market in India for contemporary art was nascent, and a market for experimental practices was nonexistent. Over the years due to many factors, India now has a strong growing market for contemporary art. We see a growth in the number of young collectors every year and not only from our major cities but in the past couple of years from smaller towns as well.

LUX: Is your role curatorial in terms of facilitating discourse?
AT & SS: Our role is not curatorial but we jointly decide on the discourse that we would like to facilitate through the gallery and foundation with curators we work with.

tops made of metal on a rack

Tayeba Begum Lipi, Vanity Fair, Shrine Empire

LUX: How do you offer platforms for cross-cultural participation?
AT & SS: We offer cross-cultural participation through PRAF. Many of our programmes have international partners and we select artists, writers and curators who then spend time in international residencies such as La Napoule Foundation in South of France and Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. For the first time, we will be inviting an international artist for a residency in India through Villa Swagatam, an initiative led by French Institute in India. We have recently collaborated with Han Nefkens Foundation for a major video grant for South Asian artists, which will give them an opportunity to show their work in five major institutions around the world.

LUX: What socio-political themes particularly resonate with artists you champion?
AT & SS: Our artists are working with the socio-political issues that are prevalent in the South Asian context. Mining and industrialisation in tribal areas leading to loss of indigenous ways, issues of migration both within the region and to countries outside South Asia, the politics of caste and gender, these are just some of the themes that resonate strongly with our artists.

A white room with art on the wall

Sue Williamson, Other Voices, Other Cities, Prameya Art Foundation, curated by Anushka Rajendran

LUX: What you foresee for the South Asia art scene over the next decade?
AT & SS: We see a positive shift of interest from international collectors towards South Asian artists. There is already significant attention on this region by important institutions and museums who are exhibiting and showing their works. International curators are showing a marked interest in the dialogue around practices from this region.

Read more: Patrick Sun on LGBTQ artists in Asia

There will be a significant growth in collections building on artists from South Asia and many more artists will be shown at international Biennale’s and Triennale’s. A subsequent result of these factors will lead to a rise in the market of these artists going forward.

Find out more: shrineempiregallery.com

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Reading time: 6 min
Carl Hansen living room

VLA61 Monarch Chair and Foyer series, designed in collaboration with Vilhelm Lauritzen

Carl Hansen & Søn began as a small furniture workshop in Odense in 1908. Today, it is a company stretching across continents. Knud Erik Hansen tells LUX about continuing his grandfather’s legacy as CEO of the Danish furniture brand

LUX: Carl Hansen & Søn was founded over a century ago. How do you maintain a balance between traditional craftsmanship and modern technology?
Knud Erik Hansen: We produce products of a very high quality. In order to do this, we have spent a lot of time looking for the right equipment to automate certain parts of the production. Being a carpenter is a very difficult job, particularly if you have to start right from the beginning, carving out the wood. Everything we make is round, and that makes it very complicated, very difficult, and it takes a long time.

When I took over in 2002, I was interested in trying to automate a lot of the processes that could be done just as well on a machine, because I don’t see the need for people to wear themselves out. I would much rather use my carpenters for doing those final touches to the furniture, so that it is absolutely perfect. The machines can grind the wood and can do all the heavy jobs, but they’re not looking at what makes the furniture absolutely perfect, they can’t do that yet. It is still necessary for us to have a lot of craftsmen working with each individual piece of furniture.

Man in a suit sitting on a wooden chair

Knud Erik Hansen

LUX: You have a very strong focus on preserving Danish designs and principles. How do you distinguish your company from other Danish furniture brands?
KEH: We are one of the very, very few that have stayed in Denmark. Before I joined Carl Hansen, I lived and worked in the Far East for 22 years in shipping, not in, not in furniture, but I had a touch on every single commodity that is exported from the Far East. I’ve seen a lot of businesses in Hong Kong and China, in Singapore and Malaysia all over the place and I would say the craftsmanship that you get out there is okay, but it is not fantastic.

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When I moved to Denmark, I built a new factory that employed a lot of people, I bought the latest machinery you could buy and I borrowed every penny I could to do it. I inherited a lot of beautiful pieces of furniture designed by hand, and I put them into production.

My brother, who ran the business 20 years before me, had a very limited amount of different pieces on offer. I widened that offering and the customers appreciated that. So I stayed in Denmark, and today I’m very pleased with what I have built. We have a factory of 60,000 square metres. We export to 67 countries around the world and have a very good name today. I can see many of my competitors trying to get back to Denmark or even to Europe from China, and I can tell you that is not easy today. I I think my timing was perfect. Let’s just say I’ve been very lucky.

Simple wooden carl hansen shelves on a wall next to two brown chairs

Tsugi Shelves, designed by Sharon Fisher and Matteo Barenghi

LUX: I read the amazing story about your mother and her perseverance with the company, How did that influence your career?
KEH: I always admired my mother’s courage and the fact that she dared to get into running a factory in the early 1960s. It was unheard of for women in Denmark. She felt it was sad that my brother and I would not have the opportunity to take over the business, so she decided to run it herself and take a chance. She managed it for 20 years and during that time, it was her whole life. Afterwards, she went happily on pension and lived a beautiful life until she passed at 84 years old.

Of course, I admire her. But I didn’t have strong family feelings or sentimentality for the company. I worked in a different company in the Far East and when I got back to Denmark I joined Tempur, the metrics company, and became the Managing Director there, so I had very little time to concentrate on Carl Hansen & Søn.

It was only when I got into the business in Carl Hansen & Søn in 2002, that I started realising how much she had actually done and also how much my father, who unfortunately died very young, had done. He is a very big part of Carl Hansen & Søn. I hope both my parents would be happy with where the company is today.

LUX: How has being in a family owned business contributed to the success across so many generations?
KEH: I’m third generation and the 4th generation is nearly ready; my younger son is taking over. He’s living in Singapore at the moment, and when he returns back to Denmark he will take over the business and it will continue as a family business through the 5th generation, I hope. I could have sold the company, but I decided not to do that. I would like the next generation to take over. I hope that will happen for my son as well, that he will look after his children and make sure that at least one of them will take over for the next generation. But of course, nothing is certain, and I must leave it to the next generation to cultivate that. I can only hope that they will continue the business.

LUX: Where do you usually draw inspiration from for your physical products?
KEH: It is important for me that we work today with a lot of younger architects and are still developing new pieces with the next generation, with both Danish and foreign designers.

A Carl Hansen chair placed next to a wooden cabinet beside a green marble wall

PK1 Chair designed by Poul Kjærholm

Taste wise, however, the DNA is still the same. The furniture is just as much a part of the family as we are, and therefore it’s important to make sure that the furniture that we offer can be showcased all together. That’s also why we can succeed with our flagship stores; you can put all the furniture together and it doesn’t really matter how you put it together, the pieces will compliment each other. I approve the furniture that we are going to make, and I have to tell the designers that we are not looking to copy what other people are doing. We want to stick to our own unique DNA, using wood, natural materials, wool and the best leather, while also thinking about our impact on the environment.

LUX: How do you ensure that your materials are both sustainable, but also of the highest quality? Are there any sustainability initiatives that you’re working on that you’d like to mention?
KEH: This is something we have considered right from 1908 as we only produced furniture from wood, primarily Danish wood. We have a law in Denmark that you cannot chop down a tree unless you plant a new one, so we are always replenishing the forests.

The only materials we use are nature’s own; we don’t use any artificial plastic or anything like that. And importantly, our furniture is built to last. We have an initiative called ‘Real Love’, where we buy back our own furniture if anybody wants to sell it, refurbish it and sell it again. Many people buy the furniture back again, which is quite nice because it’s not a big profit for us – although it is for the environment.

Read more: Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni on horology and the art of luxury

Every wood cutting leftover from making our furniture is used to its fullest, wherever we craft it into a plate or chopping board or another home accessory. Any scraps or sawdust that remain are repurposed in a district heating plant that provides heating to our own factories, and to local homes in Gelsted.

Black rocking chair next to wooden beams in the morning sun

CH45 Rocking Chair designed by Hans J. Wegner

LUX: What do you think is necessary to uphold your company’s focus on quality craftsmanship in future years?
KEH: It is important that the next generation understands the details of the company and its history, development, and culture. We have a lot of talented people in our company who understand our values, our mission, and the expectations for the future owners.

We have built the company up to a size which allows it to stand alone. We’ve ventured into significant contracts, including sales contracts and partnerships with restaurants around the world. We also have a furniture factory in Vietnam, employing around 800-900 people, where we produce outdoor and contract furniture for hotels. We also create bespoke furniture, managed by my older son. So again, it’s family. This family-driven management ensures coordination between our two factories and strengthens our competitive position.

I must stress that capital is crucial for our company. Maintaining a good relationship with the banks we work with is essential. We have been closely liaising with financial institutions to ensure their satisfaction, which is necessary for our ability to expand and venture as we have in the past 22 years.

Finally, the energy and innovation brought by the younger generation and my two sons are invaluable. They serve as catalysts for our entire team, inspiring them to align with our company’s policies. It’s crucial that they set an example for how we expect things to be done.

Find out more: www.carlhansen.com

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Reading time: 8 min
Two women aboard a bot in scuba diving gear
Two women aboard a boat in scuba diving gear

Emily Hazelwood and Amber Jackson before a dive around a nearby decommissioned rig

After meeting at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Emily Hazelwood and Amber Jackson founded the Blue Latitudes Foundation in 2018 to explore the untapped potential of decommissioned oil rigs. Here, they speak to LUX about how these infrastructures might be unlikely friends of marine wildlife

LUX: Could you share the story behind the creation of your organisation and what motivated you to focus on ocean conservation?
Emily Hazelwood: After I graduated from college, I got my first job working as an environmental field technician in the Gulf of Mexico following the events of the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill. The spill covered over 1,300 miles of the Gulf Coast in oil and threatened not only the physical, economic and food security of the Gulf’s communities, but also resources for businesses worldwide. I had never witnessed the devastating impacts of humankind on our oceans so acutely, and this experience went on to shape the rest of my career.

However, my time spent in the Gulf of Mexico is also where I first learned about the Rigs to Reefs program, where retired oil platforms are repurposed and given new life as artificial reefs, and where I began to think differently about ocean conservation. The concept fascinated me. How could a structure capable of such intense environmental degradation also be capable of supporting marine life in a positive way?

I completed a master’s degree at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California investigating the social, economic, and ecological implications of re-purposing offshore oil and gas platforms into artificial reefs. Scripps was also where I met Amber, and in 2018, we launched the Blue Latitudes Foundation to broaden the dialogue on traditional ocean conservation practices and find ways to use our oceans without using them up.

Amber Jackson: After graduating from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in marine science, I pursued my graduate studies at Scripps, met Emily, and together we embarked on a thesis project that would ultimately shape our organisation’s vision of repurposing decommissioned oil rigs in California.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

As we delved deeper into our thesis project, we discovered the tremendous ecological potential of these rigs. Contrary to conventional practices that involve complete removal of the rig and associated infrastructure from the ocean floor, we recognized the value of the platform jacket—the steel scaffolding supporting the drilling infrastructure—as a thriving marine ecosystem.

Traditionally, oil companies are responsible for decommissioning oil rigs once the wells dry up. This process includes capping the well and removing everything from the ocean floor, which incurs significant costs. At Blue Latitudes, however, we conduct comprehensive environmental impact assessments of each oil rig, assessing the existing and future underwater ecosystems. When a rig is deemed suitable for repurposing into an artificial reef, the oil company can choose to either topple the steel structure onto the ocean floor or cut it to a height that allows ships to pass over. In doing this, the company saves millions of dollars and the repurposed rig creates an artificial habitat that fosters marine life.

A fish and colourful corals underwater

A decommissioned oil rig and its thriving marine ecosystem

LUX: How do these artificial reefs compare to natural reef ecosystems?
EH: First and foremost, we want to conserve and preserve our natural reefs to the greatest extent possible. However, we recognise that we are quickly losing many of our natural reefs and the installation of artificial reefs is becoming increasingly important.

That being said, we don’t want to just use any material for our artificial reef construction projects; we want to think about materials that are sustainable and can last in the water column for long periods of time, meaning they won’t leach any chemicals or breakdown over the years. We also want to think about materials that would not only attract marine life, but would actually foster the production of marine life. That’s part of what makes offshore oil and gas platforms excellent candidates for artificial reefs. Some offshore oil platforms are as tall as the Empire State Building, which means a lot of real estate for marine life to grow. Additionally, these structures are very complex with lots of beams and cross beams, and this complexity will initially attract marine life and eventually begin to produce marine life. Finally, they were designed to remain in the water for long periods.

LUX: You are also both PADI certified rescue divers and Ambassadivers. Did you gain these qualifications because of your love of being in the ocean?
EH: I come from a family of scuba-divers who, from a young age, supported my passion and curiosity for the sea, encouraging me to get scuba certified by the age of 12. They took me around the world to explore different ocean ecosystems, and every site we visited gave us the opportunity to research the different creatures that lived there and attempt to identify them during our dives.

This passion to explore the world’s oceans has stayed with me to this day, drawing me to places like the tiny island of Utila in search of whale sharks, to oil platforms in the heart of the Gulf of Mexico, to searching for Wobbegons and Leafy Sea Dragons off the coast of Sydney. As I have grown older, that passion has evolved into academic curiosity which led me to pursue my dive master certification.

I would encourage anyone to consider diving; there is no other experience in the world like it. Diving is your first step towards exploration of the unknown, and once you have experienced it, there is no going back.

Two women side by side standing on a boat in the ocean

Blue Latitudes co-founders Emily Hazelwood and Amber Jackson

AJ: Becoming a PADI certified rescue diver was an important step for me. It not only expanded my knowledge and skills in diving but also equipped me with the ability to handle challenging situations underwater. The training involved learning essential rescue techniques, mastering buoyancy control, and enhancing my overall diving competence. It instilled in me a sense of responsibility and preparedness to assist others in need while exploring the marine environment.

Being an Ambassadiver has been an enriching experience as well. I have had the privilege of representing the diving community and promoting marine conservation initiatives. It has allowed me to engage with fellow divers and enthusiasts, sharing knowledge and raising awareness about the critical issues facing our oceans.

LUX: Amber, as a former Ocean Curator at Google, in partnership with the Sylvia Earle Alliance, how do you see the future of the role of big tech companies in conserving our oceans?
AJ: I firmly believe that the future of ocean conservation relies on the active involvement of big tech companies. Technology and innovation play a pivotal role in safeguarding our oceans for generations to come.

I envision big tech companies taking the lead in this endeavour by making substantial investments in monitoring and reporting technologies. These advancements will not only make the state of the world’s oceans easily accessible to all, but also provide a platform for informed decision-making and collective action.

Read more: Wendy Schmidt on philanthropy, technology and unexplored oceans 

By leveraging their resources and expertise, these companies can contribute to the development of cutting-edge tools and platforms that enable real-time data collection, analysis, and visualisation. Such technologies have the potential to revolutionise our understanding of marine ecosystems, track environmental changes, and identify areas that require immediate attention and conservation efforts.

LUX: How do you engage with the public to raise widespread awareness about the importance of your work?
EH: We find that with much of our work, seeing is believing. It’s hard to convey to the public the ecological value of an offshore oil and gas platform mostly because when people see an offshore oil platform, they think of destruction and oil spills. They definitely don’t think of a thriving reef ecosystem. To resolve this issue we like to introduce the public to the underwater space using underwater photography, videography, and most recently 360 videography, enabling us to use virtual reality to take audiences diving with us below the surface

LUX: What advice would you give to individuals or organisations interested in pursuing work in the field of marine conservation?
EH: I believe that we have seen success with our research into the Rigs to Reefs program because it’s unique and different and it radically challenges the way we think about ocean conservation. We’re not ‘save the whales’, although that’s still incredibly important, we’re ‘save the oil platforms’ and that tends to grab people’s attention. I would encourage anyone interested in pursuing work in the field of marine conservation to take on challenges that are often overlooked. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about our oceans, especially the deep ocean. There is still so much left to learn and explore about our oceans.

A scubadiver in the ocean surrounded by some metal bars

Scubadiving near a decommissioned rig

LUX: What are your key goals and aspirations for the Blue Latitudes Foundation for the future?
AJ: In the future we’re hoping to expand the Blue Latitudes Foundation research and education efforts into the offshore wind and aquaculture spaces. We have primarily focused on the oil and gas industry, with a specific interest in converting offshore oil platforms into artificial reefs. Increasingly, however, we’ve recognized that there are a lot of lessons that can be applied to the offshore wind industry from the oil and gas industry, such as designing wind farms that not only support marine life but also support offshore aquaculture ventures as well as fisheries.

LUX: What do you hope our oceans will look like in 2033?
EH: Industry and the environment aren’t known for working together successfully, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. As we continue to develop and utilise offshore resources, we must be keenly aware of our footprint on the environment and opportunities to mitigate our negative impacts. My hope is that we will start to see more offshore wind farms dotting our coastlines, and for the continued emergence of sustainable offshore aquaculture farms. I hope that we continue to pursue opportunities that allow us to utilise our oceans sustainably without using them up.

AJ: In 2033, I envision our oceans as thriving, resilient ecosystems that have rebounded from the challenges they currently face. I hope to see significant progress in ocean conservation efforts, driven by global collaboration and heightened awareness of the importance of our marine environments.

I hope that sustainable fishing practices will be the norm, ensuring the long-term health and abundance of fish populations. I hope we will witness the widespread adoption of responsible aquaculture techniques that minimise environmental impacts and prioritise the well-being of marine life. Marine protected areas will have expanded, safeguarding vital habitats and biodiversity hotspots. These protected zones will serve as sanctuaries for marine species, allowing them to flourish and maintain balanced ecosystems.

Through advancements in technology and innovation, we will have a more comprehensive understanding of the ocean’s health. High-resolution monitoring systems, including satellite imaging and underwater sensors, will enable real-time tracking of ocean conditions and provide early warnings of environmental threats. This knowledge will empower decision-makers to take swift and informed action to mitigate pollution and the impact of climate change.

Read more: www.bluelatitudesfoundation.org

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Reading time: 9 min
A glass and wood building that says "Ornellaia" on it
A glass and wood building that says "Ornellaia" on it
Ornellaia, recently held its 15th charity auction dedicated to the Vendemmia d’Artista 2020 ‘La Proporzione’. The online auction, conducted by Sotheby’s, raised $300,000 contributing to a total of $2.5M since the project began.  Here, Samantha Welsh speaks to Ornellaia’s CEO Giovanni Geddes da Filicaja about why this is an essential event and how he turned Ornellaia into one of the world’s most celebrated wine estates in the world

LUX: How did you start-out, and what were you invited to create with Ornellaia?
Giovanni Geddes: In 1999 I became CEO of Ornellaia; the same name as its first growth that represents the style of the estate.

Ornellaia also produces  a second wine, Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia and Le Volte dell’Ornellaia, a blend made mainly by Merlot and represents a more joyful approach of the domaine style. Furthermore, Ornellaia produces two white wines, Ornellaia Bianco and Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia

A tree and deck in front of a green vineyard

LUX: How did you shine a light on the Ornellaia brand and build it separately to Masseto?
GG: I realised that it was important to create a clear distinction between Masseto and Ornellaia, so the latter did not become seen as a second wine. This is because Masseto was produced in a very limited quantity and sold at a higher price, so my idea was that Masseto needed to become an estate with its own name, its own identity, its own winery and wine. Masseto extended over 8ha and has now grown to around 11ha. We also set up a new management structure for the winery with the appointment of a Production Director and a Sales and Marketing Director. This was a milestone for the Frescobaldi group.

Three men standing up behind a man sitting in a chair holding a walking stick and a dog in his lap

LUX: What was the thinking behind the go-to-market strategy for Ornellaia; how does an art partnership potentially add value and position brand?
GG: My idea was production, promotion and brand building, so everything had to be the very best quality.

Vendemmia d’Artista project was presented in 2009 with the 2006 vintage. Since then, the estate defines every year the character of the vintage and commissions an international renowned artist to translate the vintages’ character in art. Every year 111 large format bottles are “dressed” with these art labels. These bottles have become sought after by collectors. Furthermore, in every case of six 0.75 litre bottles, one bottle bears an art label created by the artist.

green vineyards

LUX: How does the Vendemmia d’Artista project celebrate the exclusive character of each new vintage of Ornellaia?
GG: Each year, art is created and bespoked to the theme which best expresses the character of that particular vintage. First, we define the character of the wine, then an artist is identified and commissioned to interpret the character of the vintage in a series of art labels and one site-specific installation. There is no competition involved.

A room full of people and a woman giving a speech with a man in a wheelchair holding a dog in his lap

For example, Luigi Ontani, one of the most renowned Italian artists, interpreted the first Vendemmia d’Artista vintage (2006) “L’Esuberanza”, creating an artwork which portrayed this exuberant vintage; the following year, the wine was more elegant in style, so “L’Armonia” or “Harmony” was the predominant characteristic and a wonderful Egyptian artist, Ghada Amer created the concept for the artwork. The 2020 vintage, released this year, is balanced and “La Porporzione” as it has been defined by the estate, is represented by the conceptual art pioneer, Joseph Kosuth, through the art of language, an interaction and interpretation of ‘vino’ and art.

A large tree in the middle of a vineyard

LUX:  What happens with these art bottles?
GG: The artwork bottles are sold at auction through Sotheby’s. Usually there are ten lots offered (there were twelve this time) and they comprise several of the double magnums (3 litres), ten Imperials (6 litres) and the unique Salmanazar (9 litres). Proceeds were originally donated to international museums. Since 2019, we have been supporting the ‘Minds Eye’ programme of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the award-winning programme which immerses blind and low-vision people into multi-sensory experiences to foster art appreciation.

Wines side by side on a grand marble and gold mantlepiece

LUX: Where is demand for Ornellaia particularly strong?
GG: The demand for our wines is exceeding in all markets! We have the best collaborators in all markets that together with our team support the increased awareness of our wines and that of the appellation we are part of.

LUX: With hindsight, what have you most enjoyed in your highly-successful career?
GG: Seeing Ornellaia and Masseto being recognized as Italian iconic wines, brings me great joy and pride.

rows of vineyards at sunset

LUX: What would you like to leave as your legacy?
GG: I have always wished to leave a very strong company and reinforce the estate awareness. Of course, Ornellaia and Masseto are globally very well-known, but I have always strived to amplify the characteristics and values of the wines far beyond the key markets.

Find out more:

ornellaia.com

masseto.com

 

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Reading time: 3 min
A pool surrounded by grey sun loungers and white umbrellas
A pool surrounded by grey sun loungers and white umbrellas

The Fairmont Tazi Palace Tangier pool

LUX checks in for a resplendent yet restful stay at the Fairmont Tazi Palace, Tangier in Morocco

What drew us there?

The hotel is a super impressive, sprawling 5-star establishment, high up in the hills above the Medina in Tangiers. It used to be the home of the Sultan of Morocco’s representatives in the city, and has been restored to the highest standard. Everything feels opulent and grand; the reception area’s 12 metre high ceiling was particularly memorable, as well as the slick pool and vast surrounding area featuring daybeds and cabanas. The grounds are peppered with eucalyptus, pomegranate, palm and olive trees.

A terrace with arched walls and blue and white chairs

A suite’s private panoramic view terrace

Authentic Moroccan touches are everywhere, from the artwork to textiles and mosaics from local artisans decorating its 7 stories. Whichever floor you find your room on, incredible views are a certainty, as the hotel looks out onto the entirety of the buzzing city from high above. You have the privilege of surveying the busyness from your own secluded, peaceful space.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

How was the stay?

Out of the 133 rooms at the Fairmont Tangiers, we enjoyed a classic and comfortable Deluxe room. It was bright and airy with white and blue accents. Despite the Tazi Palace being a hotel of considerable size, we felt very tranquil throughout our stay.

A bedroom with a large window and blue, white and gold details

The Deluxe King room with views of Tangier

We’d never been to Tangier and the hotel staff could not have been more accommodating – nothing was too much trouble. Fabien, Yassine, Zineb and their team were fabulous, organising a personal tour of the Medina and a drive around the city and the wild beaches where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic.

A restaurant with dangling lights and pink cushions on the benches

Crudo, one of the five dining options at the hotel

We loved being shown the Penthouse and Katara Suites, with the Katara being almost 4000 square feet. Other key highlights included our meals at Parisa, where we were lucky enough to dine twice. Authentic Persian and traditional Moroccan cuisine were both on offer. We highly recommend the slow cooked lamb shoulder in tomato sauce.

A bar with yellow and blue furniture and African art on the walls

The Speakeasy Innocents bar, inspired by West Africa

We stayed during Ramadan so were able to experience the Ramadan Iftar Buffet at Crudo, another one of the hotel’s dining offerings. This was an experience in itself; I have never seen so many different dishes on offer in one restaurant! Crudo was centred around sharing delicious food, as opposed to à la carte. There is also the Rose Room, where we enjoyed a delicious light lunch one day.

Read more: St Regis Mardavall, Mallorca, Review

Anything else?

The Spa is seriously smart and refined, with staff second to none; I indulged in a wonderful massage. Another option for relaxation is to grab a cocktail from Innocents, the uber trendy bar with live music and West African art covering the walls.

Two marble beds with towels on them

The spa which combines Moroccan-inspired techniques with products from Sodashi, Maison d’Asa and Swissline Cosmetics

Finally, convenience is always key: the hotel is only 10 minutes from the city centre and 20 minutes from the airport, so it’s an easy option for a quick round trip or a longer stay.

Find out more: fairmont.com/tangier

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Reading time: 2 min
Huge green field with a cluster of small houses in the middle
Huge green field with a cluster of small houses in the middle

Photo courtesy of Fresh Del Monte

Hans Sauter is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Fresh Del Monte. He speaks to Trudy Ross about the company’s sustainability journey and the importance of creating a culture of respect for the environment

LUX: Could you provide an overview of the company’s sustainability journey and a few key milestones you’ve achieved in recent years?
Hans Sauter: Let me mention that I’m not just Chief Sustainability Officer but also senior vice president for Research and Development. That’s not just out of coincidence. We approach sustainability from a scientific and data-based point of view, not a marketing or sales perspective. I have been with the company for 35 years; I started at the farms doing agricultural research and worked my way up to corporate. I know our global footprint in great detail and have accompanied this process of incorporating sustainability into our operations all along.

About 30 years ago, we started designing our farms to make the best use of the soil, carving out the areas which would be best adapted to our own crops and then leaving those other areas to re-forest and create opportunities for conservation. Starting all the way from water conservation to erosion control, pollination, etc, our operations have transformed themselves over time into combined systems where we see nature and large-scale agriculture co-existing. That’s very exciting.

A green Del Monte farm in costa rica beneath a sunny sk

Photo courtesy of Fresh Del Monte

A few milestones: in 1998, we got our first ISO 14001 certification around sustainability systems. In 2010, we set our first global sustainability goal to reduce our consumption of key resources, like water and fuel, by 10%. In 2015, we got our first carbon neutral certification at one of our operations, specifically the banana farms in Costa Rica. We escalated that last year, to estimate our carbon footprint going all the way from the farm to the consumer. We established programs where we promote those efforts, such as the Del Monte Zero pineapple, where we have sequestered enough carbon through our own on-site forests to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions all through the supply chain up until the consumer’s table.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

LUX: Do you think it is important to engage with the consumer and make them aware of sustainability initiatives, or are you more focused on the problem itself?
HS: We started this journey so long ago that we initially attacked the problems where they were occurring. On our farms, being in tropical and rural areas which are normally the most vulnerable areas and communities, we saw a great need for action. We engaged ourselves in projects to collaborate with our neighbours and see how we could improve conditions there.

We now understand that the consumer needs to hear about those efforts. In the last five years we have been more vocal about those efforts, because we have truly strong programs to talk about. It’s not making a lot of noise about little things; we’re talking about legitimate programs. We have carved close to 30% of our land just for conservation, and that’s what nations are trying to accomplish now – we’ve done it already.

Jumble of pineapples

Photo by Justine Alipate

LUX: Do you have faith that the rest of the food industry is going to continue to engage with sustainability and make this a key focus, or do you worry that there is an element of greenwashing and shouting about sustainability efforts when there aren’t concrete initiatives to back them up?
HS: There’s a little bit of both. There has definitely been some greenwashing and more talking than acting; but on the other hand, I don’t think anything can stop this train. The current events are making us brutally aware that we need to act. I’m convinced that the only thing that is needed is to get to the tipping point. If you have strong leaders that move the needle, the rest of the industry will follow. Just look at the electric motor industry – who would have said we would be moving at the pace we are moving at today? I’m definitely optimistic about the food industry.

LUX: How would you describe Fresh Del Monte’s approach to responsible sourcing, and does this impact your supplier chain further down the line?
HS: That’s probably the most difficult point at this stage. All of us are struggling with scope 3, which is essentially our suppliers. Rapid engagement of that part of our supply chain is crucial and not as easy to move. One of the advantages we have as a company is that we grow close to 45% of what we sell, so we are heavily invested in farming and understand what farmers are going through. That gives us an opportunity to talk to them on a one-to-one basis with a hands-on approach. We collaborate with them and we share experiences.

I think our example will help us leverage some moral authority when it comes to protecting the environment because we have done it, and we continue to do it and invest in it. Definitely scope 3 will continue to be a more difficult area, particularly because margins in the food industry are small. Here the retailers could be very effective in moving that needle because they are the intermediaries between the grower and the final consumer, making sure that they also are a part of this shared responsibility.

LUX: What is the biggest challenge facing the food industry and the agriculture industry?
HS: I would say the biggest challenge is time. The climate is changing so fast and most of us don’t realise that the clock is ticking. We could run out of time to implement large-scale solutions that make a difference.

Vineyard in the setting sun

Photo by Sven Wilhem

I see no shortage of solutions available, but there needs to be a lot of resources invested in research, specifically for many crops in tropical regions where regenerative agriculture practices have not been developed. We are very optimistic about regenerative agriculture in temperate regions, but the rest of the world has not had that privilege and we need to invest in those areas.

LUX: How much of this responsibility for climate change lies with big corporations like Del Monte, and how much do you think lies with the consumer?
HS: We are all in it together. Consumers make the difference with their purchasing decisions. That’s one of the reasons we decided to launch the Del Monte Zero. It’s a small, boutique program. We wanted to make a statement by allowing the consumer to choose a climate-responsible product, so that we are all made aware of what we are going through.

Each of us, in large companies and small companies as well, each of us has a huge responsibility at this point. We are working with our communities and we are looking at our impact on a watershed level, rather than just ‘my farm’. Because it doesn’t matter how much I protect the forest that runs through the river that runs through my own farm, if I don’t bring all the neighbours to protect that watershed, that river will eventually dry. We need to act as communities.

LUX: Waste reduction is a very important issue taking place in the food industry. Has Fresh Del Monte implemented any strategies to minimise waste reduction, and have you seen any outcomes?
HS: This is a very exciting area of opportunity. It can bring more business to the food industry. We initially started investing in waste reduction a long time ago, in our pineapple operations, using food which could not go to market to produce concentrate and juice. With that kind of systematic investment we have reduced waste at the farm level, and almost 95% of our product is used and not wasted. We are working on solutions to compost and to work with cattle-growers.

Food is too valuable to throw away. There should never be a reason to send food to landfill. What we are doing now is taking that one step further and looking at our crop residues, because that’s also a huge area of opportunity and we’re working aggressively to develop composting solutions and also other opportunities. It’s just investing in research and time.

Orange tree branches against a blue sky

Photo by Dan Gold

Read more: Unilever’s Rebecca Marmot on the Sustainable Everyday

LUX: What sustainability developments are you most excited about at Fresh Del Monte?
HS: I would say the most exciting thing which I have seen over the course of 35 years is the development of a culture of respect for the environment. No systems, no programs beat culture. If your team members have a culture of respect and admiration for the planet and your community, everything comes out of there and you have success with your systems and your programs.

We have seen engagement all the way from the farm workers, who have been sharing pictures of the biodiversity that they see while they are doing their field work. The excitement and the passion that we see is huge. When your own farm workers are excited and are taking pictures of biodiversity while they’re working, you have made an impact not only in your farm but also in the community. That multiplies by four every effort in education you have brought in.

LUX: How do you envision sustainable practices in the food industry in ten years?
HS: I envision it having huge contributions from new bio-science discoveries. There are companies which are working on deploying microbes that can fix nitrogen so that you don’t have to apply so much synthetic fertiliser. Synthetic nitrogen is one of the biggest challenges we have in agriculture as an emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. That will definitely make a big difference in the future.

Find out more: freshdelmonte.com

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Reading time: 8 min
A woman singing on stage next to a person on a keyboard with green lights above her and people watching sitting at tables
A woman singing on stage next to a person on a keyboard with green lights above her and people watching sitting at tables

Lindsey and Jorge Villon founded the The Wonder of Sound in 2019 to provide awareness, funding, and support to Auditory Verbal (AVUK). The Wonder of Sound 2023 Gala marked the 4th anniversary of the musical event in aid of AVUK and was held in London at BAFTA in Piccadilly

This year’s Wonder of Sound Gala raised almost £400,000 through the generosity of guests from the art, music, film, finance and philanthropy world.

The talent performing at the event included Reuben James, Karen Ruimy, Sophie-Rose Harper, Khaya Wiyaala and Fine Young Cannibals.

Jorge and Lindsey Villon started the charity after experiencing first-hand the work of AVUK for their daughter, Grace, who was born profoundly deaf.  Today, Grace speaks and interacts like any hearing child due to AVUK’s unique approach to auditory verbal therapy and their dedicated staff.

Through AVUK’s highly specialised, intensive early-intervention programme, as many as 80% of deaf children who spend two or more years on the programme achieve ‘age appropriate’ language skills.

three people speaking at a table and the woman in the middle is wearing a blue dress
An auctioneer going round tables with a microphone
A man in a suit holding a drink next to a woman wearing black dress also holding a drink

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

A woman playing the guitar with spiky red and black hair
A woman with short black hair wearing a red puffy off the shoulder dress giving a speech
A woman DJ behind decks dancing with headphones on
Two ladies dancing, one in a yellow dress and one in a nude coloured dress
A screen behind tables with waiters serving
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Reading time: 4 min