The CEOs and managing directors of some of Australia’s largest wine companies have met to discuss the challenges facing the wine sector.
“Building on a number of calls together over the past year and hosted by Wine Australia, this is the first time we have come together in person,” a statement says.
They had “transparent and candid conversations” around four themes:
- Future proofing Australia’s supply base;
- Enhancing the quality, value and image of Australian wines;
- Meeting the requirements of our markets for environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards; and
- Meeting the needs of our consumers through product innovation.
“With years of accumulating challenges including inflationary pressures, significant tariffs, shipping delays, an imbalance in supply and demand and Covid-19, we are concerned by the current state of the sector and know that we have a collective responsibility to lead the changes required,” the statement says.
“Equally, we are very optimistic about the opportunities available to our diverse and talented sector.”
As a first step the group has “committed focus, effort and resources” to supporting the following initiatives:
- Adopting a sector-wide approach to our ESG standards and highlighting the role Australian vineyards and landscapes can play in emissions management;
- Taking a united, collective approach to building brand Australia with respect to wine and creating a mid-strength category, aligned to market and consumer trends; and
- Building a shared data platform that will improve transparency and aid timely decision making for stakeholders across the sector.
“We all agreed that, as an initial step, each of the three initiatives will have a small group of custodians from among the summit attendees to ensure the right focus, effort and resourcing is applied to bring the action to life,” the group says.
“Most importantly, we are all aligned on the importance of taking shared responsibility for driving the health of our sector, so we will continue to come together to ensure these conversations turn into tangible actions.”
The statement was signed by:
| Andrew Calabria, Calabria Family Wines | Bob Berton, Berton Vineyards |
| Dean Carroll, Brown Family Wine Group | John Casella, Casella Family Brands |
| Darren De Bortoli, De Bortoli | Andrew Forbes, Zilzie Wines |
| Tim Ford, Treasury Wine Estates | Bryan Fry, Pernod Ricard Winemakers |
| Craig Garvin, Australian Vintage Limited | Karl Martin, Hill-Smith Family Estates |
| Bill Moularadellis, Kingston Estate Wines | Brigid Nolan, The Wine Group |
| Ed Peter, Duxton Vineyards | Martin Cole, Wine Australia |
| Lee McLean, Australian Grape & Wine | John Hart, Australian Grape & Wine |
Photograph: Duxton Vineyards.
Further reading
Wine sector worth a whopping $45.5 billion to The Australian economy