The 2023 harvest for South Africa’s wine industry is expected to be significantly smaller than previous years, making it fourth lowest crop in the past 17 years. But while the industry gets ready for another difficult year, some experts paint a positive picture of recovery.
According to Vinpro consultation services manager Conrad Schutte, different factors contributed to this year’s smaller harvest prediction. Schutte was speaking at this year’s 17th annual Nedbank Vinpro Information Day attended by 600 industry role players.
Despite sufficient irrigation post-harvest in 2022, producers faced continued irrigation pressures with load shedding.
“Additional infrastructure costs for permanent and mobile diesel generators were also a hard reality many producers faced,” Schutte said.
Dry and warm conditions during the growing season added further pressure, as well as hail damage in some regions and wind in others, coupled with an increase in mildew overall.
Additional labour, as well as spraying and diesel costs to mitigate the above conditions, resulted in a very expensive season for farmers.
“The only positive takeout of the season is that we can and must connect our businesses with capable wine industry personnel as connected companies perform better,” said Schutte.
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A shift in focus
“It’s time to manage the storm we’re facing as an industry,” said Vinpro managing director Rico Basson.
While the past three years brought difficulty to the wine industry in South Africa, grape farmers are encouraged to think about stability in the midst of local and international disruptions.
“We’re going to continue losing our competitiveness if we don’t act now,” said Basson. “Premiumisation is key to recovering as an industry, given the huge cost pressure at the winery level and the reality that the market will not be able to absorb all the additional costs. Increases at the winery level will need to be a delicate balance”
Chairperson of Wines of South Africa (WoSA) Siobhan Thompson also noted that the progress of premiuminasation of South African wine in the UK has created a good image of SA wines. Although it is not always easy to get South Africa wines to the market, he said.
Thompson added that wineries needed to focus on limited resources and leverage on partnerships that have already been established with important markets like the UK.
Meanwhile, Helen Kock of Vinimark believes that more can be expected from South Africa’s wine industry.
According to Kock, markets need to become more innovative and she encouraged creative and strategic ways to increase profitability for brands.
“Distributors can guide brands to know who and what they are, to better understand opportunities as they analyse the trade to properly execute sales plans,” she pointed out.
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