Growing export demand is the key to a successful grape and wine sector

Australian Grape & Wine (AGW) has taken a major step in its partnership with the Australian Federal Government under the Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) grants program by engaging industry experts Paul Henry and Andrew Stark to lead the grant’s marketing component.

“I am pleased to announce the next step in this project with Paul Henry and Andrew Stark selected to create a strategic marketing framework and undertake two pilot market activations in key developing markets,” said AGW chief executive Tony Battaglene.

“Working closely with Austrade, Wine Australia and the industry, we will deliver a marketing and promotion strategy for new and emerging export markets that maximises our current resources and expertise to move the export dial.”

Following on from the big vintage in 2021 and the closure of the Chinese export market, it is likely that real price pressure on grapes will be felt in 2022.

Large increases in shipping costs and decreases in availability of services is also causing significant problems for several Australian wine exporters and is likely to exacerbate the difficulty in increasing exports and diversifying markets.

“Our best opportunity to mitigate the impacts of the trade disruptions with China is to diversify our exports across a more diverse range of markets,” said Battaglene.

“We’re delighted that the Australian Government, through the ATMAC program, has provided $998,000 to AGW to help do just that”.

The AMTAC grants program is also providing valuable resources to help access the US market for new exporters and develop meaningful reduction in technical market access barriers across the world.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a grapegrower or a winemaker, whether you sell from your cellar door or domestically to a retailer, or export, if we can sell more wine at higher prices around the world, this program will benefit the whole sector,” said Battaglene.

 

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