Tag: Wines

Change of guard at South Africa’s iconic winery Spier as alcohol industry faces turmoil

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SOUTH AFRICA – One of South Africa’s oldest wine farms, Spier, has promoted its long-serving Cellar Master, Frans Smit, to be its Managing Director after 25 years of winemaking and viticultural leadership. To succeed him is his protégé, Johan Jordaan, the new Cellar Master of the three centuries old winery. The historic Stellenbosch-based farm, established in 1692, is renowned for developing awarded, quality wines in local and international markets.  From the vineyards where Spier sources grapes to the cellar producing terroir-driven wines, there’s a well-recognised commitment to the sustainability of…

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South African wine industry raises alarm over inability to stay afloat with continued domestic sale bans

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s wine body, Vinpro, has raised red flags pertaining to the continued restrictions imposed on domestic wine sales, which is deemed to potentially cripple most businesses within the sector. According to the non-profit organization representing 2 600 businesses, the South African wine industry is at a tipping point as many businesses, particularly small companies and those under black ownership, face potential closure in the next three to 12 months. This is according to the Impact of Covid-19 on the Wine Value-Chain Survey that Vinpro conducted early…

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South Africa issues petroleum company bp with liquor licence first of its kind

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SOUTH AFRICA – The multinational oil and gas company, bp, has broken the record of becoming the first petroleum company in South Africa to be granted a liquor licence. The company has collaborated with one of its convenience partners, Pick n Pay, to offer a new product dubbed wine-to-go. With this, South Africans can pop in at Pick n Pay Express located at the petroleum station and grab a bottle. This according to bp forms part of its redefining convenience strateg, aimed to deliver a superior customer experience, whether in-store…

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South Africa liquor company DGB digitizes operations, taps clouds solution

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SOUTH AFRICA – DGB, one of South Africa’s largest independent wine and spirit producers and distributors, has adopted the use of clouds solutions to streamline operations and bolster sales. The cellar owner chose the SAP Sales Cloud Retail Execution (ReX) solution and worked with implementation partner Consnet to design and introduce the technology into the business. Pieter Steyn, Commercial Manager at DGB highlights that the system was essential to integrate all business functions and processes in real time to help manage the large team of salespeople effectively, reports Africa Business…

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SA’s wine maker Nederburg hands over its cellar’s keys to Samuel Viljoen

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s leading and most celebrated wineries, Nederburg has announced the appointment of Samuel Viljoen as its new cellar-master. The seasoned wine maker takes over the reins from Lizelle Gerber, who has left to pursue other interests. In his new role, Viljoen will oversees the production of the Paarl cellar’s multi-tiered range, distributed across more than 80 countries worldwide. Prior to the appointment, he was a fully-fledged winemaker at the company and has been part of the legendary winery boosting of over 200 years of existence, since…

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Rwanda launches new banana alcoholic beverages produced in recently opened US$1.2m factory

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RWANDA – Rwanda has commenced operations at its Rwf1.2 billion (US$1.2m), Rwamagana Banana Community Processing Centre, producing banana alcoholic beverages. The factory which set turbines of its machines rolling in the beginning of April, has a production capacity of 28,000 litres per day i.e., 3,500 crates. According to reports by The New Times Rwanda, construction works for the facility started in 2016, but stalled for years. The center was fully constructed and equipped in January 2019 with production starting in 2020. However, they were again met with slight set-back of…

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Wine, Baked foods, Coffee among foods with greatest post-pandemic staying power- Numerator

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GLOBAL – The coronavirus pandemic undoubtedly changed food consumption habits in the U.S. for the better part of the past year. There was more at-home consumption than had been seen in decades prior to the pandemic while many consumers increased their intake of healthy and functional foods in an attempt to boost their immunities. There was also a significant shift towards legacy brands that evoked a sense of nostalgia and familiarity during very uncertain and unfamiliar times. How many of those trends have become permanently ingrained in the daily consumption…

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Shoprite collaborates with South African wine farmers to launch new private label wine brand, rescuing ailing industry

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SOUTH AFRICA – Leading African retailer, Shoprite has once again come to the rescue of South Africa’s wine industry with the introduction of a new exclusive private label wine brand known as Elephant’s Cousin. The new wines with unique flavour profiles and easy drinkability i.e., a sauvignon blanc, merlot and shiraz, will be widely available in Shoprites and Checker’s LiquorShops. Much like the supermarket’s popular Odd Bins range, the exact origin of the wine is kept secret to ensure it remains both affordable and accessible. Shoprite has indicated that the…

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SA wine industry lobby organization Vinpro heads to court to fight booze ban

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s Wine body, Vinpro has launched a court action to lift liquor ban in the country’s wine-making hub, Western Cape, citing that the region’s Covid-19 numbers are currently “dropping fast”. “Vinpro is relieved that the numbers of new infections, active cases and hospital admissions are now dropping fast across the country, but particularly in the Western Cape. In these circumstances, the liquor ban is simply no longer justified in the Western Cape,” the organisation said in its latest statement. The non-profit body representing South African wine…

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South Africa’s wine exports register 7.7% growth in earnings despite COVID-19 disruptions

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SOUTH AFRICA – Wine exports from South Africa reached 319.2 million litres in 2020 earning the country R9.1 billion (US$613.9m), a remarkable rise of 7.7% in value when put in consideration the COVID-19 travel restrictions and the five weeks ban on sale and transportation of all alcohol products in the country. According to a report by trade group, Wines of South Africa (WoSA), the rise comes on the back of good weather conditions which led to vineyards bouncing back from the crippling drought experienced in the country from 2015 to…

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