| A group of small Australian grape growers, who got together in a bid to beat the wine glut, are now turning grapes into cash, reports the New Zealand Herald.
Industry and market researcher IBISWorld said in a recent wine sector report that it expected smaller wine producers to continue to experience falling profit margins due to the 460 million liter glut that is expected to last till 2008-9.
But Greatstone Wines disagrees, and says it's working proof that small producers can be successful.The company was formed by a small group of South Australian wine growers who decided to fight back against this "volatile environment".
The group decided to primarily sell outside Australia and have been successfully exporting to China and Japan.
Two years on, Greatstone has gone from managing, owning and working with 50 acres of grapes to exporting at least one million litres of wine from more than 2000 acres.
General manager Dan Traucki said Greatstone went from exporting zero to 50,000 cases in 12 months, proving its success. "We're turning grapes into cash," he said.´We looked for new and different markets in new areas, because we're doing things a little bit different and innovational, and we're only getting bigger and stronger. The potential is enormously big, because we are not just looking for buyers in Australia but all around the world`, he added.
Dan said ´many small wine growers in Australia have no sense of security, with many fighting each other in a bid to be chosen by the big corporations who are bringing profits down.It's absolutely disastrous. People are selling grapes at below cost, just to get them off the vines, and hoping things would be better next season'.
For full story read http://www.nzherald.co.nz
Dan Traucki is also a well known wine writer and has been contributing Articles for delWine. Click Traucki in our Search button at www.indianwineacademy.com . -Editor |
