Smaller crop ups prices for wine producers

While wine producers face harsh realities, such as a smaller wine grape crop and increasing financial pressure, they are ready to take on challenges with a renewed focus and seize opportunities on the global, political and economic horizon. “We are now entering a new growth phase in the wine industry’s seven-year cycle,” said Vinpro MD, Rico Basson, speaking at the wine industry body’s 13th annual Nedbank Vinpro Information Day last month. While the 2018 wine grape crop is expected to be the smallest since 2005 – due to a decline in vineyard area, an ongoing drought and crop losses due to frost and hail – wine prices are expected to rise due to a looming wine shortage, with Basson highlighting that stock levels will be the lowest in 15 years. “Producers should take advantage of this by negotiating higher price points. 2018 should be the new baseline year from which we should grow value going forward,” he said, adding that it was “encouraging” that local wine sales volume had grown by 2.8% to 406 million litres in 2017, but even more positive that the value had increased by 8.6% to R13.2 billion.