🍷 Wine waste is a hidden CO₂ issue in HORECA — and it can be significantly reduced

11 March 2026 | Nordic Serve ApS

• Beverage Avenue
• WineExpo

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New data shows that wine waste in restaurants, bars, and hotels has a far greater climate impact than expected. The largest CO₂ footprint lies in the wine itself — not in the bottle.

📊 CO₂ figures relevant to operations
• 1 glass of wine (125 ml) = approx. 262.5 g CO₂ eq.
• 2 wasted glasses = approx. 525 g CO₂ eq. → equivalent to the entire packaging footprint of a glass bottle.

When an opened bottle oxidizes and must be discarded, the wine’s entire CO₂ footprint becomes avoidable emissions — while you also lose margin.

🌱 It’s not just about selling more wine — it’s about avoiding CO₂ waste

The HORECA sector has a clear opportunity to reduce climate impact without changing guest consumption:
• Wine waste occurs daily in bars and restaurants
• Every discarded bottle represents a significant CO₂ footprint
• Guests increasingly expect sustainable serving choices
• Reducing wine waste is a low-hanging fruit in ESG efforts
• It improves both operational economics and quality assurance
The message is simple: Preserve the wine you’ve already opened — and avoid unnecessary CO₂ emissions.

🛠 Winesave: a practical tool to reduce CO₂ waste in service

With a natural, food-grade preservation system like Winesave, the HORECA sector can:
• keep wine fresh for days or weeks
• avoid pouring out oxidized wine
• reduce CO₂ waste per served glass
• ensure consistent quality from first to last pour
• offer more wines by the glass without risk

It’s not just about increasing sales. It’s about protecting the quality and CO₂ footprint of the wine already opened.

🌍 Why this matters for the HORECA sector
By actively working to reduce wine waste, restaurants, bars, and hotels can:
• document concrete CO₂ reductions in operations
• strengthen their sustainability profile with guests and staff
• minimize unnecessary costs
• offer a broader by-the-glass wine program without waste
• deliver a more responsible and quality-driven guest experience

Wine waste is one of the industry’s most overlooked climate challenges — and one of the easiest to solve.

👉 Visit stand D3154 to learn more about Winesave — and perhaps try it out?