The state needs to see the wine industry as a national treasure

Covid-19 has left the SA wine industry in a state of chaos. Radical action is necessary to prevent long-term retardation. The multi-pronged agenda of the government’s alcohol ban needs a counterbalance to address the severe demand shortfall and its far-reaching effects.

Let’s look at what Covid-19 had done and is doing to the SA wine industry, an industry that directly employs about 300,000 people. Over the past nearly five months, local sales have been almost totally banned. Export sales were banned for a period of about five weeks. The ports are operating very slowly, causing significant delays. International buyers are, in many cases, prolonging order lead times.

From our vineyards to end-consumption, locally and internationally, it is the ultimate achievement of the full value add — a product that is now world-class. Locally, further value is added by the proliferation of world-class restaurants, with SA wines being part of the highlight. It is hard to find any other SA industry that captures so much of the value chain.

Wine is a ‘message in a bottle’, it is ‘bottled sunshine’, it is the only SA ‘takeaway’ that is of high quality and can be delivered all over the world to serve as a reminder for tourists to keep SA at the top of their travel wish-lists Forgive the cliché, but wine is a “message in a bottle”, it is “bottled sunshine”, it is the only SA “takeaway” that is of high quality and can be delivered all over the world to serve as a reminder for tourists to keep SA at the top of their travel wish-lists. To remind them to visit for the food and beverage extravaganza that exists locally.

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