Documentary puts SA wine exports at risk

A recent documentary
focusing on the harsh
working conditions of local
farm workers in South Africa
could place many of South
Africa’s wine export markets
at risk.
After it was aired in
Denmark recently, some
Danish supermarkets
removed SA wines from their
shelves.
But this removal appeared
to be a selective process as
far as SA winemakers were
concerned. Supermarket
chain Dagrofa removed
wines from Robertson
Winery, highlighted as
among the worst abusers.
Meanwhile, retailers Spar,
Meny and KIWI stopped
imports from the same
winery, according to the
Danish wine newsletter,
VinaVisen.
To date, there have
been no reports of similar
actions in Sweden. But the
possibility of this action
spreading cannot be ruled
out. Early next month the
documentary will be shown
in Norway, and the producer
is in talks with British and
other broadcasters to air an
English version.
But the legitimacy of
several aspects of the
documentary have already
been questioned, both locally
and in Scandinavia.
Local industry bodies have
come out firmly against what
one termed “a very narrow
narrative” of the progress in
the employment practices in
the SA wine industry.
The industry employs in
excess of 289 000 workers,
and growing employment
and economic sustainability
remain key concerns,
according to wine trade body,
VinPro. It also pointed out
that a macro-economic study
conducted by the SA Wine
Industry Information &
Systems (Sawis) showed that
the wine industry created
4.64 jobs for every R1 million
rand invested, compared to
the 2.94 jobs created by the
national economy for the
equivalent investment.
“Sensational reporting
and opportunism does
not bode well for any of
the parties involved and
VinPro condemns efforts
that are likely to eventually
have negative, far-reaching
implications,” said VinPro
MD, Rico Basson.
This form of media
activism was also condemned
by the Wine and Agricultural
Ethical Trading Association
(Wieta) as “provocative”
and “sensationalist”. It had
also unfortunately created
a distortion of the work of
Wieta, and the progress that
has been made in improving
employment conditions, the
body added.
Meanwhile, Sithembele
Tshete, spokesman for
the department of labour,
appealed to farmers to treat
their workers fairly so as not
to compromise their exports.
And government is obviously
concerned about the financial
as well as the ethical health
of the SA wine industry. It
actually earns about one
billion rand more than the
winemakers from the sale
of wine products (including
brandy). In 2015 producers’
income was almost R4.793
billion, whereas government
revenue was slightly more
than R5.787bn.
And neither wine
exporters nor government
want to upset the
Scandinavian market, as its
countries rank pretty high
up the list of top SA wine
importers, with a regional
offtake of 50 million litres of
SA wine a year.
Sweden ranked as 4th on
the list of the world’s biggest
importers of SA wine (both
bottled and bulk), while
Denmark claims 6th spot,
according to Sawis statistics.
SA rates as Sweden’s
second most popular country
of origin for wine imports,
and its offtake was 6% of
SA’s total, direct, bulk and
bottled wine exports in 2015
– when it imported a total of
25 525 335 litres of SA wine.
Denmark now imports 5%
after a 78% jump over the
past decade. It imported a
total of 19 419 797l in 2015.
So these are two SA wine
importers to be treasured.
And Heinemann having
said (“threatened” might be
a more appropriate word in
this case) that he hopes to
have his documentary aired
in the UK, could create an
even worse-case scenario.
UK tops the list of SA wine
importers by a large degree,
having imported bottled
and bulk wine totalling a
whopping 107 089 490 litres
in 2015.