Wine industry's fall not such a pleasant drop
THE wine industry's woes have been compounded by a sharp fall in exports and unrest at the Government's key wine marketing organisation.
Figures released yesterday by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation show wine exports for the year to November dropped 12.5 per cent, slashing 17.5 per cent off the value of sales.
The slump comes as the AWBC closes its only European office and loses key staff in London and New York.
A senior industry figure said yesterday it was further bad news for an industry under pressure to maintain its international market share.
"It's just really disappointing the way they've handled this and left the US and European markets exposed," the figure said, criticising the AWBC's actions.
"I think the wine industry is going to go into the new year in the two biggest global markets with absolutely nothing planned."
The AWBC confirmed yesterday it had closed its office in the Dutch city of The Hague as part of a restructuring of its European operations, which would now be run out of London.
Kirsten Moore, AWBC's acting London manager, has quit after not being appointed to head the upgraded operation.
Meanwhile, the veteran head of AWBC's New York office, Jan Stuebing Smyth, has been made redundant after 13 years.
AWBC general manager of market development Paul Henry, who oversees international operations at Wine Australia, said the positions in London and New York were being upgraded.
Mr Henry said the organisational changes in Europe were designed, in part, to allow the AWBC to direct more resources to the expanding Chinese market. He acknowledged that the need for cost-cutting, as the international economic downturn hit wine markets, was also a factor.
"It's a confluence of all of these things," Mr Henry said.
The government-funded AWBC operates Wine Australia from revenue generated through industry levies, which have also been at the mercy of a falling dollar and tight export market.
AWBC revenue is down $2 million for the year but Mr Henry said the industry had great expectations on Wine Australia to push into new markets. The AWBC's Wine Export Approval Report, released yesterday, shows exports for the year to November were valued at $2.49 billion, compared with $3.02 billion for the same period last year.
Export volumes were also lower at 695 million litres, compared with 795.4 million litres in the previous year.
Falling exports and the unrest in the AWBC's international marketing division have coincided with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's push for more access to European wine markets. Mr Smith this week signed an agreement with the EU, which has agreed to recognise Australian wine regions such as the Coonawarra in South Australia, Margaret River in Western Australia and Victoria's Yarra Valley.
In return, Australian winemakers will stop using terms such as burgundy, port and sherry, which are named after regions in France, Portugal and Spain.