Personalities of the year

Just what were the big talking points of 2015 that impacted on the New Zealand wine industry?

Between us, we came up with three.

1. The rise of the importance of North America. For the first time ever the US became our largest export market and along with substantial growth in Canada, this region is continuing to grow at stunning levels. They are helping push New Zealand towards a $2 billion export industry by 2020.

2. The fall of the New Zealand dollar this year has brought smiles to the faces of all companies exporting their products – the wine industry included. For years now, exporters have had to suck it up when it came to returns, due to what at times seemed to be, an over inflated dollar. Finally it has evened out. And wineries can now breath a little easier when it comes to getting their money's worth for exporting.

3. The decision to unify the two organisations that make up NZ Winegrowers. The proposal to dissolve WINZ and NZGGC and transfer their assets to NZW Inc was mooted at the 2014 Bragato conference. In May this year, that proposal was voted on by members and ratified. Then in October members voted Yes to new levy orders that would allow New Zealand Winegrowers Incorporated to become the industry's unified body.

And it is that third point that struck both Gregan and myself as perhaps the most important industry event/s to take place in 2015.

In particular the work undertaken by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Board of NZW, in convincing members of both WINZ and NZGGC to support the unification.

Steve Green and John Clark have worked tirelessly for the past 17 months to get the message across. They have travelled up and down the country, outlining the reasons behind the potential changes. They have answered dozens of questions time and time again. They have listened to those that were against the proposal and worked hard to understand where the combatants were coming from.

But most importantly they have both convinced the majority of members of WINZ and NZGGC that unifying into one incorporated body was advantageous to all.

Change is not always an easy thing to convince people to take on. But both Steve and John have managed to do this.

Their work and that of the Board of NZW means the industry can move forward in a way that can only add strength to it.

The very many facets NZW provides members can continue, including; Air NZ Wine Awards, Romeo Bragato Conference, Research projects, grape price data, Viticulture Monitoring Report, Winemaking Practices, Sustainability initiatives, lobbying of Government, providing labeling guides and export certification support.

By this time next year, we all will benefit from that unification.

Thanks Steve and John for all your hard work over the last 18 months.