This morning, Wine Australia and Australian Grape & Wine officially launched the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan. The plan, which hopes to recalibrate the long-term goals of Australia’s wine industry, outlines a clear framework developed in collaboration with feedback from the sector.
“Grapegrowers, winemakers, exporters, industry associations, researchers, business and suppliers have shared their views, insights, aspirations, concerns and expectations on the challenges and opportunities for the sector,” said Lee McLean, CEO at Australian Grape & Wine.
“As a result, the Plan launched today, provides greater linkages to existing plans, such as Vision 2050, demonstrates stronger industry leadership, collaboration and coordination, and provides practical action and guidance for all.”
The plan, which can be downloaded and reviewed here, outlines six urgent sector priorities to be addressed by the end of June next year. These include:
- Balance supply and demand,
- Diversify and intensify our international markets,
- Grow our domestic market,
- Embrace sustainability and aim for continuous improvement in practices,
- Defend wine’s social licence, and
- Fit for purpose levy system.
In the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan, Wine Australia and Australian Grape & Wine wrote: “the oversupply of red wine and red winegrapes is the single most urgent challenge raised in consultations…. There is no single approach that can rebalance supply and demand in our sector. It isn’t something that can be fixed by a single market, policy approach or innovation. Nor can it be resolved by any single organisation or the government.”
One of the solutions proposed by the new Sector Plan is to improve Australian wine through innovation: “as a sector, we will strive to apply new technologies across the value chain to improve competitiveness, enhance product quality and improve production efficiency and sustainability.”
Another key goal of the new Sector Plan is to reinforce the regional variation of Australian wine.
“Our sector values the distinct characteristics of different regions,” says the Plan.
“There’s a shared commitment to ensuring that the connection between ‘place and product’ remains central to our growth strategy, emphasising quality, sustainability, diversity, and innovative practices.”
Martin Cole, CEO at Wine Australia, believes that the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan will be essential to supporting the future of Australian wine.
“The breadth of the Australian grape and wine sector is its strength; from family-owned grapegrowers, commercial and premium winemakers, to vertically integrated businesses and corporates. The strength of the Plan lies in our ability to share the load to optimise the opportunities ahead,” he said.
“But success is dependent on action: collaboration and shared responsibility, to learn from the past, acting on the challenges of today, to set the course for sector success."
The new Sector Plan has been launched by Australian Grape & Wine, the national association of grape and wine producers that addresses supply chain issues, in conjunction with Wine Australia, which supports the industry via research funding, promoting market opportunities, and defending integrity.
In an interview Drinks Trade conducted in May, Martin Cole said that the One grape & Wine Sector Plan has influenced Wine Australia’s five-year strategy: “we’re just about to go into a new five-year strategy, so taking on board a consultation from the One Sector Plan, the Minister’s Task Force, and then really putting that into the next five-year strategy, which will be really important for us, but more important and very important for the industry too.”
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