As we all celebrate Heritage Day on 24 September, we believe that being proudly South African means celebrating our heritage every day.
Our mission is to build brands with unrivalled passion for the future of the company and our people. As good corporate citizens our commitment is to meaningful transformation that creates sustainable growth and economic wellbeing for everyone in the environment in which we operate. That extends from our commitment to the empowerment of our employees, their families and the broader DGB community.
Over the years, we’ve implemented several projects to better-impact the world around us. Through our commitment to skills development of both employed and unemployed learners, procurement through accredited local suppliers, and enterprise and supplier development; we have attracted, retained and are developing a truly diversified workforce. We are proudly diverse in our employment representation, with 74% of our total compliment and more than 50% management made up of people of colour, of which 51% are women. It is these individuals that underpin all our efforts.
- Our multifaceted approach to empowerment prioritises educational and entrepreneurial projects in the communities that are impacted by our business. Our efforts have seen us achieve a level 4 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) status, sharing in of the highest ratings of local leading alcohol producers.
- Education and literacy efforts focus on the availability of resources and technology while entrepreneurial skills development programmes focus on programmes that enable communities to provide for their own immediate needs and empower them to improve themselves and their communities in the future.
- DGB also generously donates to education-related initiatives through the DGB Charitable Trust:
- Since 2017, we have awarded a host of bursaries to deserving youth who qualified for tertiary studies and has put a significant number of adults through Adult Education and Training.
- Our mobile library – equipped with over 5 000 books specially selected for school children between Grades 1-5 and 20 and state-of-the-art computers with full internet access – has brought the joy of reading to over eight primary schools and more than 1 500 children.
- DGB’s long-standing relationship with the Andrew Murray Childrens Home as well as the Johannesburg Childrens Home provides financial and practical support to almost 300 orphaned children.
- Though the sponsorship of Kinderland Academy, over 81 educators and 109 students have received training in vital early childhood development teaching skills.
- We have partnered with the Sunfield Centre for Intellectually Disabled Adults for their 96 residents and 10 day-care individuals to provide basic services in carefully selected tasks for DGB. For this, they are compensated and given the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to society.
- Our Realise Programme focusses specifically on equipping disabled youth with basic life skills and continues to grow from strength to strength.
- We also give multiple interns and apprentices the opportunity for on-the-job experience and support young people through the YES4YOUTH CAMPAIGN.
- On the farm DGB owns behind our Wellington facility we have a Herbert Baker homestead which is used by two teachers who run “Lees, Leer en Leef” a teaching facility that helps children that struggle academically, emotionally and socially in mainstream schools.
- All of our wines are produced using sustainable & environmentally practices with each wine bearing the IPW Wines & Spirit Board Integrity and Sustainability seal. Forty per cent our energy requirement is sourced through our solar panel systems. We are constantly seeking out areas of improvement and innovation to reduce our carbon footprint. Backsberg Wines was recently awarded the PAS 2060:2014 specification for carbon neutrality. It is the first fully accredited Carbon Neutral Winery in South Africa.
What makes all these efforts possible is the quality of the wine that we produce – in fact, some of the best in the world. In 2022 and 2023, we were delighted to be awarded “Best South African Producer” by Mundus Vini at Prowein . Numerous of our competitors export bulk and bottle their wine in Europe. We only bottle our wines in South Africa as local bottling uses local dry goods and maintains employment opportunities while also contributing to our economy.
We firmly believe that if we all work together, we can make South Africa a better country for all its citizens. Our wines will continue to gain recognition around the world as our reputation for quality grows. South Africa is blessed with incredible people who are passionate and tenacious so let’s embrace our heritage.
The Springboks have certainly captured the country’s heart, so let’s all wish them well in their efforts to return home as “World Champions” again.
