The US of A is the Promised Land

Today I attended a VinPro Information Day in Goudini, of all places. Lets just say, I didn't get the fashion memo. It appeared that wearing khaki chinos and short sleeve shirts were obligatory if you were in the wine industry. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt- which in the end proved lucky since Goudini is not exactly a place of cool ocean breezes.

VinPro is an organization that provides technical support to wine producers on a broad range of relevant wine topics. There were four main speakers with talks on the SA economy, the international wine market in 2008, trends in UK wine retail markets and lastly, but probably most importantly, marketing challenges facing wine brands.

I want to pick up on one point made by Dr Johan Bruwer from Adelaide University- the US represents a major opportunity for South African producers. 26% of wine consumption in the US is made up of imports, with a forecasted [when VinPro uploads the presentations I will insert the source of these stats] 2.6% pa growth in consumption predicted for the next five years. Crucially, however, that growth has been and continues to occur at the higher prices points. We, as South Africa, need to take advantage of that growth. Currently, of the Southern Hemisphere countries, Australia is really kicking proverbial butt, but with a major drought on the go in Oz and supply issues on the way, South Africa has an opportunity to grab some of that market share.

SB

When VinPro uploads the presentations to their website, I will link them to the blog.

Pic courtesy of http://ironmitch.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html