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The Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA) Strategic Plan 2015-2020 was released on 1 July by the top Australian wine authority. It also revives the Wine Australia name a year after the body was merged with Australia’s Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC) to form the new Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA).
Brian Walsh, Chairman of Wine Australia says the new strategy for the next 5 years would like the wines to be globally competitive. The new strategy has the immediate aims of boosting the demand and premium paid for Australian wine, as well as increasing its competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Walsh expresses his grand ambitions: ‘Our longer-term goal is for Australia to be recognized as the world’s pre-eminent wine producing country,’ he says and adds that the goal is being set purposefully broad so that the vision set out in the document can continue beyond 2020. "There is no reason we should not set a high ambition, but it won't be achieved in five years," he admitted.
His wish is that the overseas consumers in Australia's established and emerging markets shout start buying more expensive wines but in ‘having the cake and eating it too’ style, he would like to see popular brands like Jacob's Creek, and Yellow Tail continue to be the mainstay in the wine and liquor stores in the UK and USA. In other words, he would like this segment of the market to grow but also find higher quality Australian labels sold by their 'fine wine' sections.
He does concede that the expensive wines might be bought for special occasions only. "We want to see a higher presence of our fine wines in the part of the store people go looking for those special occasion wines. If we had 10 per cent of that space, it would be big progress, because now you will generally see one or two bottles only," according to the report in abc news yesterday.
Australia has been dealt a double blow to its export in recent years-with the devaluation of the US dollar to bring it almost at par with the Australian dollar. Fortunately for them, it is ruling at A$ 1.33 against US 1.00 now and with the strategy declared by AGWA, one will hopefully see a change in the quality perception during the next 5 years and beyond.
For the full report, visit: http://www.wineaustralia.com |