Amidst global and local challenges, the inaugural South Africa Wine Summit, themed “Blend and Bond,” set an optimistic tone for the wine industry’s future.
Chief executive of South Africa Wine, Rico Basson, delivered a sobering assessment at the summit held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, revealing that this year’s harvest is 7% lower than 2023’s yield, marking one of the lowest in two decades. Stressing the importance of policy certainty, Basson underscored the industry’s role in job creation.
Election hopes: Wine industry anticipates stability
Basson said the industry is hoping that the upcoming national and provincial elections will bring about stability and collaboration needed to boost the country’s economy.
“I hope for policy certainty after the elections. What we do not want is coalitions and infighting. What we need is stability and support as the sector cannot do this alone. Trade policy, infrastructure, and ports are some of the key policies that one would like to see going forward. As the sector, we will drive and have discussions around the table with the government.
“I hope after the elections we will have stability in the country, and as the sector, we also want to see agri-tourism blossoming and jobs created,” he said.
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However, Basson reassured that all is not lost and outlined their plans for the next six months to revitalise the livelihoods dependent on the wine industry, which has created over 200 000 jobs in the last 30 years.
“What you can expect from us are six focal themes: enterprise development for black businesses, wine tourism strategy, domestic market growth strategy, knowledge transfer strategy for viticulture and oenology, and industry environmental, social, and governance framework,” he said.
Partnerships drive growth
Daneel Rossouw, head of sales for agriculture at Nedbank Commercial Banking, said the bank is ready to assist farmers with their expertise on their journey to become sustainable and commercial and thrive.
“We are very proud to be partnering with South Africa Wine to facilitate and fund sustainable transformation in the sector through business principles, structures and training. We reiterate that collaborations such as this are vital for growing the agricultural sector.
“Despite the growing challenges the wine sector has faced for the past few years, it remains the vital contributor to the South African agriculture and economy and as the bank we salute each and every member of the value chain. Through the challenges and successes, we are here to support you,” he said.
The director general of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), Dr John Barker, said global challenges have impacted the growth of the industry across the world.
“Extreme climatic conditions and widespread fungal diseases severely impacted many vineyards worldwide, culminating in a historically low global wine production of 237 million hectolitres. This marked a 10% drop from 2022 and represented the lowest output since 1961.
“World wine exports in 2023 decreased by 6.3% in volume compared to 2022, recording the lowest volume since 2010. Despite a 4.7% decrease compared to the 2002 record high, the global wine export value in 2023 reached 36.0 billion EUR, the second-highest ever recorded,” he said.
Barker said climate change is the biggest challenge in the wine industry globally and all stakeholders, the government, and captains of the industry need to come together for knowledge sharing and innovation to keep the sector alive and adapt to the reality of the weather conditions.
“We need to include and learn from young consumers, not educate them to think like us,” he said.
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