February 2012
EDITORIAL
A drop in the ocean
This year has certainly set off at a pretty hot pace – with frenzied activity and literally hot conditions (is it really this bad every year?).
At the time of writing this (mid-January), we were bearing the brunt of a heat wave with temperatures hovering around 40ºC here in Paarl, even with talk of 50ºC in Vredendal!
Meanwhile, activities in wine business and production – with the first grapes generally coming in later than normally – started off with a bang, particularly with the Nedbank VinPro Information Day in Somerset West being sold out. In fact, because of limited space at the only suitable venue outside Cape Town, more than 100 people wishing to attend had to be shown away. Obviously this calls for rethink next year. And the venue problem is one showing itself more and more in the wine country as we keep doing and thinking bigger.
For VinPro, it’s a good problem to have, with the Information Day now in its seventh year and growing. What can one read into this? The quality and relevance of the top-notch, carefully chosen speakers from various sectors? Growing seriousness about being informed and smartly strategising with a view to successful business? Concern about the mounting pressures felt by the industry? WineLand will be reporting in-depth on this event in the March edition.
With regard to this edition, we carry a significant report by a previous VinPro Information Day speaker, the domestic wine market researcher Elias Holtzkampf (courtesy of Sawis).
Sadly this reveals how the old stalwart of the wine industry, brandy, has lost significant ground, from representing almost 41% of the spirits market in 2007 to the present 35% – with whisky catching up fast in a slightly growing spirits market (1%), while those darned ales keep on eroding wine’s potential growth.
The positive thing is that the domestic wine market has grown by 3% in the past 12 months after many years of stagnancy. Ironically, the roles have been reversed with regard to exports (see our news report overleaf), where natural wine has declined by 7.2%, with packaged wine down by 19.7% and bulk growing by 12%.
Talking stats, VinPro’s Rico Basson forwarded me an interesting ‘map’ of Africa found on the Internet, showing the relative size of other large countries compared to Africa where one billion of the world’s six billion people make a living and at this stage contribute a mere 3% to the world economy. In fact, no less than 14 countries including China, Eastern Europe, India and the USA are superimposed and fitted into Africa’s outlines.
And, come to think of it, we represent only 3.7% of world wine production. There’s a big, thirsty world out there – if the product, price and marketing is right. And probably if we look more north.
'n Druppel in die emmer
Die jaar het afgeskop op ’n werklike warm noot, met ’n kwaai hittegolf in die Boland teen middel-Januarie, net voor die baie suksesvolle sewende jaarlike Nedbank VinPro Inligtingsdag, met ’n bywoning van meer as 500 mense. Daar word volledig in die volgende uitgawe hieroor berig, maar intussen dra ons ’n insiggewende verslag oor die binnelandse mark, waar brandewyn kwaai aandeel verloor, terwyl die binnelandse en buitelandse wynmarkte rolle omgeruil het in die sin dat die voorheen stag-nerende plaaslike verkope nou effens styg en die spoguitvoere skielik daal. Interessante perspektiewe is dat Afrika met sy reuse bevolking oënskynlik groot potensiaal het, terwyl ons maar 3.7% van wêreld wynproduksie lewer.
Cassie
