Regional funding to grow Hawke’s Bay’s red wine

Regional funding to grow Hawke’s Bay’s red wine sector

Hawke’s Bay’s is to benefit from NZ Trade and Enterprise funding to grow the region’s red wine sector. Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc., the regional wine organisation, is to receive up to $50,000 to contribute to five key projects under NZTE’s Regional Strategy Fund.

Over the next year, five projects will be investigated and developed, and Lyn Bevin, HBWG Executive Officer is pleased that months of planning can now move into implementation.

“We know the contribution the wine industry makes locally and we believe it can be even more productive for the region. This funding will do much to help us show and achieve that,” Ms Bevin said.

One project is an economic impact survey to measure employment multipliers, regional export information, and examine the wine’s industry contribution to regional GDP. The survey will be in more depth than a national study completed recently for New Zealand Winegrowers by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

“We’re working with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to avoid duplicating existing work and to set up the model for use in future years,” says Ms Bevin.

Funding will also be used to develop a NZ Cabernet Merlot Forum as an annual event in the New Zealand wine industry calendar. This forum will take place in January 2010 to coincide with a national Syrah Symposium being held in Hawke’s Bay, hosted and run by Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc.

The aim of the forum is to identify issues that enhance and hinder the export of Cabernet Merlot wines, and to help develop Hawke’s Bay’s strengths and market leadership for this wine category.

A third project is to develop a programme of varietal tastings that give local grape growers and winemakers the opportunity to improve export wine quality, and to gain better knowledge of competing wines on an international level. “It will also help our members avoid the development of a ‘cellar palate’ where local winemakers, and anyone else for that matter, can become over familiar with wines they make and taste often, hindering their ability to appreciate wines from other regions and countries,” says Ms Bevin.

The series of varietal-specific tastings compares wines from around the world at four different price points. Feedback from the sessions will be provided to members to build up the level of knowledge held locally.

Ms Bevin will also be using the funding to develop better market intelligence. “There is a wealth of information and research in the international marketplace but it is not always easy to access and can be prohibitively expensive for individual wine companies and growers. Now we have the means to review and assess how we can pass it on to our members for their benefit in understanding consumer purchasing behaviour, international markets, and wine styles within market segments.”

And finally but by no means least in Ms Bevin’s view; the funding will help the organisation develop and implement an international strategy.

“For so long Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc. has lacked the resources to deliver to an international audience. This funding now allows us to develop international events in support of New Zealand Winegrowers’ generic marketing programme with the aim of increasing wine exports from our region.”

Initially the focus will be on the Australian market and Ms Bevin plans to discuss options with NZWG representatives both in New Zealand and Australia, to identify events that have the ‘best fit’ with Hawke’s Bay red wines and other variety strengths.

One possibility is to take HBWG’s successful Hot Red Hawke’s Bay expo that is due to run for the sixth year in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington next month, to Sydney and Melbourne.

“We believe there is huge potential for Hawke’s Bay to take charge of marketing our wines collectively to the world,” Ms Bevin believes.

ENDS

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