Shrinking Australian wine industry
by Leon Gettler
The latest data shows Australia’s wine industry is contracting.
The latest annual Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory (WID) shows that the number of wine producers have decreased and the size of vineyards has shrunk.
It reveals that the number of wine producers decreased for the second consecutive year to 2468 in 2016. That means 13 producers have closed down since 2015. Overall, there are 105 fewer producers than the all-time peak of 2573 in 2014.
At the same time, the total area of Australia’s vineyards continued to shrink in 2014-15.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal that the total vineyard area in Australia, including not-yet-bearing areas, decreased by 9 per cent from 148,507 hectares in the previous survey in 2011-12 to 135,178 hectares in 2014-15.
The total area covered by Australian vineyards has now declined by 22 per cent from the record level of 2006-07. According to the ABS, it is lower than any time since 1999.
Much of the shrinkage is because of industry consolidation.
Apart from the Accolade Wines acquisition of Grant Burge Wines, there was the sale of Peter Lehmann Wines in late 2014 to Casella Family Brands.
The change in the number of wine producers is uneven around the country. While the overall figure is down, numbers increased slightly in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. They were lower however in other states and territories. In Queensland, producers were down from 85 to 79, WA it went from 366 to 358 and in NSW/ACT it went down from 469 to 463.
These aren’t massive declines but added up, they all point to a trend.
Still, despite the decline in producers and vineyard areas, the industry is booming.
According to Wine Australia, the value of Australian wine exports has surged 14 per cent to $2.1 billion in 2015, its highest value since late 2007.
16th March 2016
