Pushing South Africa forward to a more sustainable future
By Richard Siddle
You can get just about anything you want in South Africa. Particularly as it has one of the world’s biggest and most important agricultural and farming industries. But what you can’t do is have a bath.
The last two to three years of drought like conditions across the Cape has taken its toll on the country. Even though dam levels have slowly recovered over recent months to around half their capacity, water shortages are still very much the topic of debate amongst locals and those tasked with being able to use what water there is to help in their particular line of farming or industry. The wine sector is no different.
The impact the lack of water has had on people’s everyday lives in South Africa is an all too present reminder of just how fragile our climate is becoming. It’s also very much one of the central themes of this week’s Cape Wine event taking place in Cape Town.
The focus for this year every three-year event is quite rightly on the growing quality, consistency and reliability of this still burgeoning and growing wine industry, with buyers having flown in from all over the world to get their share of what has been an above average 2018 harvest.
Down to earth
But the opening seminar to Cape Wine also brought everyone down to earth. Yes, this is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, with hundreds of days a year of bright sunshine and perfect wine growing conditions. But it is also very much under threat from what appear to be increasing changes in the weather and it is everyone’s interest to put sustainability at the top of their business agenda, said Siobhan Thompson, chief executive of Wines of South Africa.
Carina Gous, chair of WOSA, widened the sustainability message out to look at the profitability and viability of the overall South African wine industry. In particular she spelt out the pressures it was now facing from a combination of a weak currency, and imbalanced wine structure, where two thirds of its wine exports are still in bulk over bottled wine, and the competition its farmers and grape growers were facing from other farming sectors to sell up and plant different and potentially more profitable crops.
So whilst on the surface all might look well and plentiful in the Cape it is these factors, combined with the changes in climate, and water shortages that all South African producers are having to wrestle with, before they even get chance to sit down and talk prices and agree trading negotiations with their international customers.
The low average price per litre that South African producers can command for their wines is the biggest issue facing the industry, she warned. Pointing to a chart that showed South Africa bottom of the top global wine exporters with average euro/litre ratio of 1.23 compared to 6.07 for France, 4.15 for New Zealand, 3.79 for the US, 2.17 in Australia and 1.89 from Chile.
On the front foot
She urged producers and the industry as a whole to get on the front foot and tell the world about South Africa’s strong credentials as an ethically sourced, environmentally sound place to make wine, with schemes such as the world leading Integrity and Sustainability Certification that sits on every bottle of exported wine. Well 94% of them at least.
Bruce Jack of Drift Farm said South Africa should be rightly proud of the fact that every bottle has its own DNA line of accreditation that allows overseas buyers to track not only every bottle back to the producer where it was made, but down to the plots of land, and the vines, that all the grapes in that bottle came from. No-where in the world comes close to that, he said.
The sustainability certification means 100% of the grapes comes from the area shown on the bottle and that the producer follows strict sustainable winemaking practices. It also goes further to cover good employment practices, a safe and healthy environment to work in where the producer pays the right living wage and offers housing rights.
The world over businesses, retailers, restaurants and individuals are looking to follow greener and more sustainable lives so it is only right that the wines they drink are also sourced from a country that puts sustainability high on the agenda, added Jack.
It’s why events such as Cape Wine are vital for South Africa’s future, said Gous, as it gives producers and winemakers the chance to build those long term relationships with key buyers and partners around the world. But that also means, she stressed, paying a sustainable price for its wines.
That’s certainly a message not lost on Rick Tigner, chief executive of California’s Jackson Family Estates , that is doing more than just buy wines from South Africa, it is making them as well. He said the business was firmly invested in the country and that its two properties, Capensis and Fijnbosch, were very much in it for the long term.
He said its long term goal as a producer was to make and promote premium wines wherever it can in the world and he saw no reason why South Africa could not play a healthy role in that market. He echoed Gous’s calls for more efforts to be made to improve the working conditions of those in the industry. To do that meant building wine brands that can fetch the prices to then drive that profitability and sustainability through your own supply chain. He said its strategy had allowed Jackson to sell its wines with an average price point of $16, whilst also paying its staff above the minimum wage.
He also returned to the issue of water management and the responsibility everyone in the sector has to control and ensure they are on top of how water is being used in their business. Similarly wine loss. For a business that was crushing 100,000 tonnes a year it could not afford to be losing even the 4% it does. Even bringing that down by 1% would have a major impact on its bottom line.
Andrew Milne from Spier said it was also important for those in the wine industry to reflect on their position in the local environment. Yes, their principle goal in life is to make good quality wine, but they are also custodians of the land they are using to make it. So that means looking after the soils, the water table, the waste they are producing. Even if it does mean having to wait a little longer before they can freely take a bath.