OUR APPROACH

Our CSR approach has been built throughout generations.

In line with our values of quality, pleasure, sharing and passion, it is only natural that we have added the value of commitment.

Commitment at Nicolas, is thinking of our customers at every stage of our business cycle. To make our stores places that welcome sharing, allows us to find products rigorously selected by our oenologists.

Nicolas is committed to the ethical management of its operations. Transparency and responsibility are present in our daily actions.

Today more than ever before, we know that every action counts, and all the actions we carry out towards sustainable development will have an impact on the future of our environment.

This is how we act and think, to build Nicolas’ future.

ENVIRONMENT

Being a distributor of wines, champagnes, spirits and beers for decades, we are aware of the impacts of our operations and therefore make a daily effort to limit them.

We separate and recycle all wastes produced from our sales activity: card, plastic, paper, glass, cork, etc., there is more than 500 tons of waste per year.

To better control and reduce our energy consumption, we have installed LED lighting throughout our warehouse and offices. This lighting is also gradually being Implemented in our stores. To limit the use of air-conditioning in our stores, we have placed an anti-UV solar film on the windows that rejects 99% of ultra violet rays and saves more or less 5° on the temperature in our windows.

We require that all fleet vehicles used to transport NICOLAS merchandise to our stores respect the CO2 charter (ADEME*).

HUMAN

People are at the heart of our business. Our profession, as merchants, stands before the story of Men and Women, driven by the shared passion for a product.

It was these Men and Women who, since 1822, have dedicated their skills to serving our customers.

We are committed to training each person who join the company through a training course. Each wine merchant who joins Nicolas attends a mandatory 5-week training. At the end of the training, they participate in a competition in front of a jury who will test the knowledge acquired and welcome them into the Nicolas network. Each year, a training program is offered to employees to update everyone’s knowledge.

We are dedicated to developing our relationships: every year events are organised to bring together the headquarters, logistics and stores teams, to develop common ideas with the aim of continuous improvement.

This is because we are convinced that it is TOGETHER that we will develop our greatest successes for the years to come.

PRODUCTS

18,000 product samples are tasted and analysed each year and we are able to guarantee the traceability of purchased batches from their tasting to the receipt of the merchandise. Our Quality approach of continuous control throughout the life of the product is certified by Ecocert.

In partnership with our suppliers, we initiate and monitor research and development projects in agroecology on their properties. The results of these studies are shared in order to contribute towards improving environmental issues at stake.

For our brands’ wines, champagnes, spirits and beers we apply eco-design principles. As well as for our new range of Petites Récoltes, these are wines labelled with High Environmental Value, use lighter bottles, FSC labelled paper labels, vegetable-based ink and recycled cardboard.

COMMITMENT

Since 2013, we have been collecting cork and synthetic stoppers in all our stores. Those collected are recycled and the funds collected finance the plantation of cork oak trees.

In 2016 we inaugurated our first forest in the Pyrénés-Orientales in collaboration with the French Federation of Cork. Today, more than 2000 trees grow in our forest.

Bringing your corks to stores is a simple and easy gesture with a big impact for the future…

Our paper bags, paid for since 2018, contribute to the protection of our environment. In fact, all proceeds are donated to support research and trial projects for the wine industry, to help maintain the wine heritage and to finance a student scholarship following the presentation of a project supporting the environment. So that our approach benefits everyone today and tomorrow.