The Growth of Private Wine Cellars in South Africa
Thu, Jul 23, 2009
I took part in a panel discussion on Tuesday as part of the recent SA Wine Tourism Conference. The topic of discussion was ‘Wine Festivals: are we killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?’. I was asked to sit on the panel quite late in the game, so I spent Monday evening frantically doing some background research. As Backsberg, I was wearing a producer hat. So, in looking at the question of why there’s been such an increase of wine festivals/events, I wanted to look at the landscape of private wine cellars.
I summarised some numbers that I had gotten from the very friendly and efficient Nateley at SAWIS. The results can be seen in the table and graph below (Note: I grouped private estates and private non-estates to get the ‘No. of Private Wine Cellars’). Basically, I wanted to get a fix on the number of players involved in selling bottled wine and therefore presumably having to market the stuff. The short answer is that since 1995 there has been a growth of 188% in the number of private wine cellars in South Africa. I want to get hold of the associated volume figures for that period, but I think it is safe to say that this is proof that the market has got a touch more competitive since 1995!
This post was written by:
Simon Back- who has written
51 posts on the Back Chat Blog. After finishing up studying economics at UCT in 2007, Simon has joined his family wine farm, Backsberg. When he is not trying to figure out what marketing wine means, he is authoring his blog, Back Chat.Author's web site: Backsberg
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Tags: Backsberg, Growth, Private Cellars, SA Wine Tourism Conference, SAWIS, South Africa
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I’m curious to see what the 2009 figure is going to be. Times are tough! I need more than two hands to count the cellars that are closing their doors…
Hopefully two-thousand-and-soccer will pull us through.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Hi Edo, indeed, it’s going to be interesting to look at the numbers in a year’s time. We [producers] have to work smart at the moment; a business-as-usual attitude is very risky. I think certainly think 2010 is a huge opportunity, but it’s also dangerous to base an entire recovery strategy on it. SB
August 5th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Hi Edo
Please send a list of the cellars closing. We are looking for a good 8 ton white wine press and some other kit, so maybe we find something useful!
I think there is a major problem re what has happened to real prices and the impact on profitability and margins. Doing a bit of homework on that and hope to write a blog entry re that soon
Cheers
PS Simon - thanks for adding us to your bloggrol… NOT!
August 5th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Dana, will forward request to Edo. Indeed, margins are being squeezed left, right and centre. Look forward to the blog entry. Please post a link here when you are done. Cheers, SB.
P.S. I’d be happy to add a link to my blogroll, if you would do the same on our side, though I can’t actually find a blogroll on http://vnl.co.za/blog/?
August 26th, 2009 at 11:02 am
There isn’t much of an argument though about the profitability aspect of most small producers. There is a fair amount of research and anecdotal evidence out there that suggests that many of these ‘lfestyle’ investments never make any money. It is an interesting game, thats for sure.
Cheers