Facing realities: the Nedbank Vinpro Information Day 2023

After three years, almost 600 wine industry professionals once again attended the annual Vinpro Nedbank Information Day at the CTICC. WineLand gathered comments from the attendees.

The 17th Nedbank Vinpro Information Day, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 19 January 2023, confronted South Africa’s pressing economic and agricultural challenges head-on.

After three lean years, almost 600 wine industry professionals once again attended the annual landmark event at the CTICC. WineLand asked some of the attendees about their experiences.

Enduring relevance

For Frederik Herten, proprietor of Hasher Family Wines, the Nedbank Vinpro information day is a highlight in the business year since it brings together people from all aspects of the wine industry. “The way the event has evolved over the years shows the continuous growth in professionalism and quality in all regions of the South African winelands,” he says.

A large part of that value comes from gathering together in person. “The large amount of people that took the effort to come to Cape Town for the event clearly show that the guests found it worthwhile to do so,” says Frederik. “A virtual event would not even come close to achieving the same level of connection and networking. It is about meeting new people, catching up with people that you may only see once a year, and sharing ideas and experiences.”

Sebastian Beaumont, owner and winemaker at Beaumont Family Wines, agrees that it was very worthwhile. “One is always surprised by the network of people that attend. Being a smaller producer in a more outlying area, it is vital to connect to key players in the industry at these kinds of events,” he says. “I had some great chats with a few people that I wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t there.”

Staying positive

Frederik’s highlight of the day was the presentation by Helen Kock, who talked about the FAST method of building an effective winery. “[Helen] truly captured the essence of the direction South African wine estates should keep moving towards: Focus, Accountability, Simplicity and Transparency.”

Due to the busy start of each season, it was only the second time that Theuns Botha, commercial manager at Brennokem could attend. He appreciated hearing about details of the expected harvest, trends in the industry, stockholding etc. although it made him concerned for what the future holds. “The speakers presented really well and the topics were very relevant, if somewhat scary on the RSA future outlook side of things. Don’t miss it for the world,” he adds.

But getting a realistic picture is crucial for making informed decisions, and Driaan Griessel, chairman of Aan de Doorns Cellar, says he particularly appreciated the presentation by Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego. “Isaac painted a realistic picture of the current economic state of our country. Although not always positive, it is always good to get this type of input as a platform for future planning and development.

“On the positive side, the wine industry showed good resilience despite the Covid 19 pandemic and although we still have a long road to full recovery, I do think we have the necessary resources and opportunities to again reach sustainable levels of growth.”

According to Sebastian, every speaker brought a vital message and the event provided a good selection of viewpoints, but there was a crucial void. “I would have liked to have heard someone from Government addressing the session.”

Room for improvement

Julian Johnsen, managing director of Vondeling Wines in Paarl, is also full of praise for the day’s speakers, but he thinks a later start would be more accommodating. “Bearing in mind most of us drive in from the Winelands, it would be great if it started at 10.00 a.m. That way we would miss most of the traffic.”

On the other hand, Nick van Woerkom, MD of Haute Cabrière in Franschhoek, would like to see even more. “We can’t have a day like this end as early as 14h30 if we expect people to be there in person, travelling from far and wide. Else we may as well do it via zoom,” he says.

“The day should be maximized with more relevant content - a production and dry goods specialist and a winemaker/cellarmaster, in my opinion, annually discussing best practice regarding bottles, labels, production aspects etc. We then get the full picture: the macro synopsis, the SA economy update, the Conrad Schutte vineyard update, and then the Cellar/production update. I would even suggest a boutique and a larger producer’s viewpoint.”

The message that stood out for Nick was Predict, Prepare, Persevere. “[These] are the critical takeout’s for any producer/wine industry business in today’s times - and the Vinpro Infoday is a tool for us to help predict and prepare and plan for our year and then to persevere. We are South Africans - perseverance and resilience runs in our DNA.”

Nick also thinks the event could use a greater focus on consumer, customer and digital marketing. “Understanding how to win with customer, consumer and via social media needs far more energy in the wine industry, and we are streaks behind whisky and beer in SA in this space. We will only win as a category if we work together on this.”