Australian Grape & Wine (AGW) has received a $998,000 grant from the Australian Government to explore potentially lucrative new international marketing options for locally produced premium wine.

Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, David Littleproud said the grant would support industry exploration to diversify its overseas markets.

“The plan is for this grant to deliver two marketing and promotion pilots for Australian wine,” Minister Littleproud said.

“These pilots will look to get consumers on board in countries where there is great potential for growth – in this case, Japan and South Korea. There is an enormous amount of untapped potential in these markets, and the more inroads we can make into new markets the better off our winemakers, exporters and grape growers will be."

Tony Battaglene, CEO of AGW, said that the grant would be used to concentrate on consumer engagement and promotion.

“We’re looking at finding new ways to engage directly with consumers, in partnership with retailers,” Mr Battaglene said.

Australian wine exports, grape growers and winemakers need a cohesive strategy to drive growth in a
broad range of export markets following the $1.2 billion hole left by the evaporation of the Chinese market.

“Grape growers and winemakers across Australia have been dealing with an incredibly difficult period over the last
couple of years, with fires, smoke, COVID-19 and China’s import duties on Australian wines all taking their toll” said
Mr Battaglene.

"This grant will deliver a clear and coordinated roadmap for investment and activities across the Australian wine sector to deliver increased market access and growth in key target export markets,’’ said Mr Battaglene.

Industry estimates put Australian wine production in 2020-21 at around 1.5 million tonnes of wine grapes and around 1.2 billion litres of wine. The value of Australia’s wine exports is forecast to be $2.6 billion in 2020-21. 

“This investment will establish a framework for our sector’s effort to explore new market opportunities and overcome the challenges in front of us," said Mr Battaglene.

“Australian wine has a great story to tell – we provide a clean, green, high quality product. By improving our engagement with consumers, we can find better ways to get our message across. This is the critical first step in a much broader market diversification program that will provide Australian grape and wine businesses, and the regional economies that rely on them, a sustainable future.”

The grant to AGW is part of the Australian Government’s Agri-Business Expansion Initiative.



 

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