Our dumped grape growers fight back

Gisborne grape growers dumped by Pernod Ricard have taken the bull by the horns and formed a company aiming to produce and market their own wines.

Steering the business is former Gisborne man Hugh Ammundsen, who is confident in the opportunities ahead for growers here.

Nearly all members of the newly-formed company Growco are former Pernod Ricard-Montana growers who have decided to take the contract termination and reinvest money from that into a new business to take their grapes.

The group of more than 20 growers represents around 10 percent of the Gisborne grape crop, which will be marketed under a Gisborne brand, and maybe multiple brands targeting different niche markets. The business ultimately plans to export.

“This is how growers have decided to move on,” says Mr Ammundsen.

“Instead of pulling all their grapes up or hoping someone down the track will be willing to buy them, the growers will be looking to grow their own product and keep control of their own destiny.”

The company is now issuing shares, based primarily on the amount of grapes each member grows.

The financial structure will be in place in time to handle the 2010 crop and Growco will have a visible product ready in 12 months.

Growers behind the company are being brave, says Mr Ammundsen.

“It takes some guts to get together, especially in the current environment, and say we are not going to pull our vines out — we are going to carry on.

“I think there is also genuine excitement among grape growers now that things are actually happening and not just talked about, and now it’s down to the responsibility of seeing that through.”

Around half of the company’s fruit is chardonnay and the rest a mixture of varieties including pinot noir, pinot gris, a little sauvignon blanc, semillion and other grape varieties as well.

It is looking to produce a small range of different wines.

A core issue now is how to sell what will be a large tonnage.

“We have to be aware of what Pernod Ricard has said about the efforts they have gone to, to try to stimulate sales.

“To be fair to Pernod, it is a business and if I was in their shoes I could well have made the same decision.

“However, I have looked at it from a different perspective.”

There was the backdrop of the recession but the oversupply of sauvignon blanc was pushing down prices and to some extent displacing chardonnay . . . not just because of a change in people’s tastes, but also because of price.

However, Mr Ammundsen says markets are dynamic and the same thing goes for selling wine.

“Nothing goes on forever. There is no such thing as a permanent trend,” he says.

“I personally believe we can sell all this product.”

To help make the wine sell, the region must be promoted in a slightly different way from how it has been done before, he says.

“Ultimately, if this works it will benefit all the other producers in the region also.”

As well as bringing more opportunities for grape growers, the new business would boost employment and tourism. It would also encourage growers to diversify a bit more.

“More value and more money for this district,” says Mr Ammundsen.

Gisborne is the third largest grape-producing district in the country. Since the 1980s, when a lot of muller thurgau was grown, it has carried the bulk producer label.

“But that is not what the district has done ever since. It is time to front up and get the message out that Gisborne has got a lot more. We have to build a new reputation together and it will make Gisborne wine more attractive to the world.”