South Africa's World Cup wine tour
14 July 2009
On the back of wine exports that continue to defy the global downturn, Wines of South Africa plans to bring a group of foreign journalists to cover the football World Cup and visit the country's winelands in June 2010.
Wines of South Africa (Wosa) CEO Su Birch says many European importers are also planning to bring their own customers on incentive programmes for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
"There has been enormous interest, in particular from the European media, in visiting South Africa for the tournament," Birch said in a statement last month. "Our intention is to ensure visiting foreign trade and media are exposed to our producers and activities in the winelands while they are here.
"We'll give them a taste of the true South African hospitality for which we have become famous. They'll experience the spontaneous African warmth and excitement surrounding the [World Cup], and get to taste our wines in a new context."
Ninth-biggest producer
South Africa is the ninth-biggest wine producer in the world, with 102 000 hectares cultivated to vine, representing three percent of global output. For the 12 months to April 2009, the country exported just over 403.3-million litres of wine to reflect a year-on-year growth of 17%.
Sales to the country's biggest markets were all up, to the UK by 27%, to Germany by 12%, and to Sweden by 26%.
Birch says South Africa remains the fast-growing segment in the UK, occupying fifth position with a 10% share of the market, is the fourth-biggest player in Germany, and the biggest in Sweden.
"We remain confident of South Africa's ability to compete in the global arena, but we have to manage our resources as effectively as possible," she said. "We are used to working with very tight budgets, and this has made us flexible, with the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances."
UK awareness campaign
Birch said Wosa would also be giving greater emphasis to reaching consumers directly. Last month in the UK it ran a highly innovative new campaign, The Great South African Wine Trail, which brought the flavours of South African wines and lifestyle to life for over a million consumers.
A branded, double-decker hybrid and carbon-neutral bus filled with fynbos arrangements, grape vines and hosted by South African winemakers, travelled to eight major cities, going as far north as Edinburgh. Visitors were able to sample wines, talk to the winemakers and learn about the country's eco-initiatives.
"Looking at the first four months of this year compared with a year ago, our key markets continue to deliver good growth, and we are seeing an encouraging increase in the sale of premium wines," Birch said. "Packaged wines for the period were up 12% and that is a very positive sign compared to how some other exporting countries are faring."
UK honour
Birch was recently honoured as Woman of the Year by leading UK journal "The Drinks Business", for the role she has played the advances made by the South African wine industry in international markets over the past decade.
She was also featured on Sky News and CNBC Europe, which highlighted how South Africa's exports had grown more than threefold in volume within a decade, on a budget far smaller than many competitor generic marketing bodies.
SAinfo reporter
Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material
