Riverina grape growers central to wine industry project

The Wine Inland Productivity & Profitability (WIPP) project has launched three collaborative initiatives, with wine grape growers in Riverina central to the development of them.

A partnership between the NSW Wine Industry Association, Riverina Wine Grape Growers Association, Wine Australia, NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI), Charles Sturt University and Food Innovation Australia (FIAL), the three-year WIPP project commenced six months ago to address productivity and profitability challenges facing wine grape growers in warm inland grape regions.

The first results from the project were a wine grape trading platform, budgeting tool and local coordinator for Riverina.

NSW Wine Industry Association President Mark Bourne said, “The NSW wine industry employs 53,000 people across NSW and currently the growers in our largest wine region centred around Griffith — which makes around 20% of the volume of Australia’s wine — are struggling to remain profitable. Developing a new sustainable production model fit for the future is essential not only for individual businesses, but for the regions and communities we live and work in.”

The project aims to help develop future sustainable, productive and resilient businesses. It is exploring viticultural technologies and resources, business knowledge and skills and technologies that will address current challenges.

Wine Australia CEO Martin Cole said, “Wine grape growing is a vital part of the community in Riverina. When we sat and spoke to our customers in Riverina six months ago, it was clear that immediate action was needed and also how fundamental it would be to co-design the solutions with local growers, so they are always at the centre of the outcomes. We’re delighted to be launching the first initiatives from the project and look forward to continuing to deliver and extending outcomes through other regions so that we can build a really solid foundation for the sector’s ongoing profitability and resilience in the future.

Riverina Wine Grape Growers Executive Officer Jeremy Cass said the collaboration hopes to identify gaps in in knowledge, skills, business management and vineyard practices relating to profitability in the Riverina, which may then be used to assist other warm inland wine regions.

The first three initiatives of the WIPP project launched in Riverina for wine grape growers are:

1. A new wine grape trading platform, developed by leveraging FIAL’s Australian Food & Beverage Catalogue to assist growers to find new customers for their grapes.
2. A new budgeting tool built by NSW Department of Primary Industries, with the support of Riverina Wine grape Growers Association, to assist growers in making crucial decisions around replanting or redevelopment options.
3. The appointment of a coordinator who will work with experts at Charles Sturt University and NSW Department of Primary Industries to assist with research inputs and outputs, and growers on the adoption of recommended best practice models, tools and techniques.

The trading platform, leveraging FIAL’s Australian Food & Beverage Catalogue, is being launched ahead of the 2023 vintage and aims to connect growers with uncontracted fruit to wineries seeking grapes.

Dr Mirjana Prica, Managing Director, FIAL, said, “We enthusiastically support this much needed grower–industry–research collaborative project. The new grape trading platform and cluster coordinator are real and immediate tools and support for grape growers doing it tough. We look forward to this project having wider benefits across all the grape-growing regions of Australia, leading to the sustained growth of the wine sector into the future.”

Image caption: iStock.com/sarra22