The Zero Challenge competition, run by Juan Torres Master Distillers, will come back for its third year, with the final taking place in Barcelona on the weekend of 25-27 March.
The 2025 edition is believed to be the biggest Torres Zero Challenge yet with entrants hailing from 11 countries: the US, the UK, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Norway, Finland, Romania, South Korea and China.
Participants from each country will compete in national finals throughout February, with the winners going on to the global final in Barcelona, Spain, where the Torres Brandy House is based.
At the three-day event in Barcelona, the finalists will present a sustainably minded project that they feel can enhance both environmental and social sustainability in the hospitality industry to an international panel of judges.
The winner will earn a €30,000 (US$31,398) cash prize to turn the project into a reality.
Torres said the projects should address ‘specific socio-environmental challenges’ and ‘have a measurable impact related to the reduction of CO2 emissions or waste, recycling of materials or social inclusion’.
The projects will be assessed on four aspects: the idea (what problem it addresses, the relevance of the proposed solution and whether its application is feasible); sustainability (measurable impact, environmental awareness and future commitment); the business plan (financial viability, profitability and execution); and future growth (the scalability and reproducibility of the idea).
Mexico’s José Alberto del Toro was crowned the champion last year for his sustainable glass bottle initiative.
The project, titled ‘Zero workshop: Giving a second chance’, aimed to bypass traditional recycling to cut carbon emissions. It featured a space in a bar where discarded glass bottles are reused and turned into glasses, lamps, ashtrays, cups or barware.
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Author: Rupert Hohwieler
