Wine Industry Strategic Exercise WISE

With the implementation of the Wine Industry Strategic Exercise (Wise) commencing in 2015, this could be a very significant year for the entire wine industry value chain. VinPro managing director, Rico Basson’s message at the Nedbank VinPro Information Day emphasised the need for participation by the industry.

“Wise is an open process that belongs to the industry. Particularly with the upcoming implementation phase in mind, clear communication and consultation with key stakeholders will be absolutely crucial,” explains Rico.

The Wise process was announced at the 2014 Nedbank VinPro Information Day and one year later, Rico presented the key objectives. He emphasised that relationships would be the determining factor of the process. “We really need to collectively build relationships – within the industry, as well as with other pertinent stakeholders, including government and labour. Fragmentation was one of the reasons why the Wise efforts commenced. We need to sing from the same hymn sheet,” he stressed.

Rico presented targets that the Wise initiative would aim to achieve, pertaining to land reform, ethical certification, the local wine market and wine tourism.

A social compact, known as the “Wise envelope”, will be one of the key outcomes of the process and will aim to promote unity in the wine industry and broader agriculture sector. The proposed appointment of a “wine industry lobbyist” in Gauteng is one of the first steps of this effort.

The wise website www.wisewine.co.za has been set up to encourage feedback from the industry. Feedback can also be sent to [email protected]

The South African wine industry is in the process of developing a new strategic framework aimed at improving competitiveness and coherence through, inter alia, more focused communication and an industry-wide governance structure.


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