Today, the Arnaldo Caprai farm in Montefalco (PG), was awarded by the UNHCR for Italy (the UN Refugee Agency), the Holy See and San Marino the prestigious award 'Welcome. Working for refugee integration', the only Italian winery to be awarded among the companies that have contributed to a more inclusive society for those forced to flee wars, violence and persecution.
Since 2016, Arnaldo Caprai has started to collaborate with Caritas of Foligno and other local associations socially committed to the integration of immigrants into the world of work. gave more than 200 asylum seekers the opportunity to find employment in the cellar. Only in the last three years has the opportunity been given to over 50 asylum seekers from North Africa to work in the vineyard during different times of the year. The cooperation yielded very promising results, as more than 60% of the immigrants who joined the company reconfirmed their presence in subsequent years and stabilised their employment position.
An activity that well expresses Arnaldo Caprai's vision of social sustainability and that is fully in line with the UNHCR's Global Compact on Refugees, which calls on the private sector to play an active role in managing the humanitarian refugee crisis by implementing integration strategies that take into consideration both the needs of refugees and the characteristics of the companies involved in order to implement shared and participatory integration paths. For this reason, starting in 2017, the UNHCR decided to award recognition to companies in Italy that are committed to fostering the labour integration processes of beneficiaries of international protection. This recognition takes place through the awarding, each year, of the logo 'Welcome. Working for refugee integration'..
'We are honoured to have received this recognition of great ethical and moral value,' says Marco Caprai. The sustainability of a company is not only environmental and economic, because a company, even more so if it is agricultural, and even more so if it is wine, is an integral and active part of the territory, a protagonist also of its social sustainability. In recent years we have grown in size and have therefore needed manpower, but we also had the firm will to rely on clear and fair contractual practices, thanks to the advice of Confagricoltura's experts, and to avoid relying on external companies for the necessary manpower: welfare is an important and serious issue for a company that wants to be truly sustainable'.
L'prize-giving event, which saw 167 companies recognised, was held today in Rome at 5pm at the Auditorium della Tecnica of Confindustria, Via Tupini 65.
Having arrived in Italy in the famous barges, and then redistributed in the various centres around the country, those who have found their future in the prestigious Umbrian winery that has revived Sagrantino, 'are young people who lend themselves to sacrifice, arriving at 6am, many of them on bicycles, doing 6-7 kilometres, some on mopeds and, as economic conditions allow, in cars. They are an important resource - underlines Marco Caprai - and they are often the best part of the countries they escape from: many of them have studied, and it is nice to see that here they find an opportunity, a place to put down roots. It is a story that dispels the myth that immigration is only a problem: it is not so'.
The work and employee training have always been at the centre of Arnaldo Caprai's interests. For this reason, the company develops training programmes to develop the potential of its employees in the medium to long term and is also home to Umbria's ITS agrifood course for the wine sector. Over the five years of the course, more than 100 students attended lectures on the farm and worked directly in the vineyard and cellar. A dozen students were then employed at the end of the course.
'The ability to attract talent is fundamental and we believe,' Marco Caprai concludes, 'that both training and social sustainability are two key elements in doing this. It takes talent to attract talentthe company is made up of people, and it is not only our wine that acts as our brand ambassador: our employees are the best testimonials we can have to clearly and transparently communicate the values and culture of our winery'.
ARNALDO CAPRAI FARM AT A GLANCE
Few other wineries in Italy and around the world are immediately identified just by mentioning the name of the denomination to which they belong, like Arnaldo Caprai, itself a symbol of Sagrantino di Montefalco. A unique reality, synonymous with Italian excellence, capable of creating wines that are out of the ordinary in terms of depth, elegance and longevity: not only reds, but also whites. The credit for this adventure that began in the late 1970s goes to Marco Caprai, Arnaldo's son. It was he, in fact, more than anyone else who believed in the richness of Sagrantino, reinterpreting it in a modern key, through the most innovative production and business management methods, which have enabled him to win the favour of the public and critics all over the world. Not to be outdone by the whites: Arnaldo Caprai's Grecante, 100% Grechetto, managed to conquer Wine Spectator's Top100.
A great company, Arnaldo Caprai, that guards a green soul, considering issues concerning sustainability, protection and safeguarding the environment as fundamental. The point of observation always remains the same: trying to behave in harmony with natural evolution cycles, preserving and enhancing the territory in which it operates. This is why the company decided to create an Environmental Management System that complies with international regulations, developing a voluntary territorial protocol of environmental, economic and social sustainability of the production process.
It is in this unparalleled context that wines of unforgettable substance are born, complex and elegant, capable of narrating the best of an entire region, Umbria.
