How wine company The Hidden Sea mixes business with social purpose

It’s not enough to simply offer an excellent product these days. Today’s consumer cares about the social impact of the brands they buy from. Here, Justin Moran, co-founder of “no-nonsense premium wine company” The Hidden Sea, shares an insight into the brand’s sustainability initiatives.INSIDE FMCG: When did The Hidden Sea launch, and why did you decide to use the business to support environmental causes? Justin Moran: We launched in 2015, and it’s certainly been a journey. Our brand’s purpose feeds into our heritage, which has been tied to the ocean since the very beginning. Where our vineyards lie today in South Australia was once covered by a vast ocean and home to a thriving marine ecosystem. Ancient mineralised relics, including an extraordinary 26-million-year-old whale fossil and an extensive museum of marine life, now lay buried beneath the alluvial soils of this World Heritage wine region. For my co-founder Richie Vandenberg and me, it was a really simple decision. When we entered into the wine industry, which is an agricultural business, meaning we make a living from the land, we wanted not just to be a sustainable wine business, but to use our brand to raise awareness for ocean health. In addition, Richie is an avid ocean kayaker and has seen first-hand the destruction of our oceans due to plastic. And I’ve spent a lot of time in South-East Asia surfing and holidaying, and I knew we had to be a part of the solution after literally swimming and surfing in plastic. INSIDE FMCG: You’ve supported a few different organisations over the years – can you share some highlights and what your overall impact has been? JM: I’ve learnt so much over the past five years. When we entered the space, we believed it was all about awareness and education. Although that is still important and part of the solution, that alone doesn’t have a clear quantifiable impact. After a few years, we knew we needed a consumer promise that people could easily understand and buy into and a tangible difference that we could track as a business. I actually love our journey and the learnings we had along the way. We went from giving a percentage of case sales to a fixed amount per case sold, but consumers still didn’t realise or really understand our impact. Now our consumer promise is clear and very quantifiable. By drinking one bottle of The Hidden Sea, consumers are making it possible for us to remove the equivalent of 10 500-ml plastic bottles from the ocean and recycle them through our partnership with the ReSea Project. And we are starting to make a tangible impact on our oceans. With help from consumers, our market partners and retailers, I believe we will be close to removing and recycling 10,000kg, equivalent to 600,000 water bottles, by the end of 2020.INSIDE FMCG: Your goal is to remove 1 billion plastic bottles from the ocean by 2030. How did you decide to make such a big, long-term commitment? JM: I’m a believer in the BHAG, having a big hairy audacious goal, and going after it as hard as you can. With the annual wine volumes that we have achieved on the other side of our business, all we need to do is convert them into branded products under The Hidden Sea and we can achieve this goal within 10 years, and with a healthy tailwind! INSIDE FMCG: You also need to make really good wine that consumers will want to buy and drink. How do you approach these different priorities and balance them all together? JM: At The Hidden Sea we absolutely believe in the non-negotiable principles of any great wine brand: a unique story, well thought-out packaging and of course, quality wine. But I believe brands vying for their consumers’ attention should have a clear and higher purpose and with one eye on regeneration, this is what elevates The Hidden Sea from its competition. The Hidden Sea is a commercial business and we aim to make a profit, but a profit from work that benefits humanity. In short, everything matters. Internally it’s a philosophy; externally it’s a movement. A large focus for The Hidden Sea is working towards the principles of a circular economy. This means making packaging that is both made from recycled content and is recyclable while staying fit-for-purpose. It’s also worth mentioning that we are audited by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia and the latest reports put us in the top echelon of Australian wineries. INSIDE FMCG: Can you provide a snapshot of the business in terms of annual sales, biggest retail partners and markets? JM: We didn’t seek out major retail partnerships until we felt that we had our product and messaging right. The partnership with ReSea Project in July was the stake in the ground for us, and since then we have landed several large retailers: Sainsbury’s and Co-op in the UK, and Systembolaget in Sweden. Our website sales have increased by 1500 per cent and sales via our distributor increased by more than 100 per cent.