SIMON BROWN: Chatting now with Rico Basson, MD at Vinpro, chatting around the wine industry and how it’s coming on. Rico, I appreciate the early morning time. How was 2021? I mean, obviously in 2020 with all the lockdowns you just couldn’t sell alcohol; 2021 was better in many senses. I’m assuming it picked up. Are we back at pre-pandemic levels in terms of sales yet?
So there’s an array of interventions …. Then illicit trade Simon, which is just absolutely out of control at the moment. It is all about enforcements. RICO BASSON: Yes. I think if there was one positive thing from Covid trends, then it is home consumption. And I think in terms of home consumption, it’s positive for wine specifically, and for what I would call the ‘white spirits’ category e.g. gin most certainly. So I think on that trend, there is something to build on: that is a reset in consumer trends. The domestic economy is still tough – so trading [is] down.
But I think the repositioning into new markets, Simon, and with that market access support, is the way to go. And I think that’s where the focus is at the moment.