Members are advised that the 2022-2023 Annual General Meeting was held at DW Fox Tucker, King William Street, Adelaide on Friday 8th of December 2023, and the Association is pleased to advise of the following appointments: 

  • Chair: Tim Stead of Amorim Australasia 
  • Vice Chair: Liz Schoen of Liz Schoen Consulting
  • Secretary: Amy Bishop of DW Fox Tucker
  • Treasurer: Ron van Buuren of Hydra Consulting

The following were elected to the 2024 and 2025 Management Committees:

  • Liz Schoen of Liz Schoen Consulting
  • Steven Scott of Pernod Ricard Winemakers
  • Eric Wilkes of Affinity Labs, AWRI

 The following will comprise the 2024 Management Committee: 

  • Tim Stead of Amorim Australasia 
  • Liz Schoen of Liz Schoen Consulting
  • Amy Bishop of DW Fox Tucker
  • Ron van Buuren of Hydra Consulting
  • Adrian Fiocchini of Seguin Moreau
  • Daniel Polson of Adama
  • Steven Scott of Pernod Ricard Winemakers
  • Eric Wilkes of Affinity Labs, AWRI

Management Committee members serve voluntarily for the benefit of WISA and the wine industry supply sector. The Association would like to thank all for their commitment.

The Association would also like to thank outgoing Management Committee members;

  • Robin Shaw of Wine Tourism Australia and
  • Nathalie Taquet of eBottli

for their respective contributions to WISA over their (multiple) terms on the Management Committee. Their contributions and insights provided to the Association have been greatly appreciated. 

Thanks to DW Fox Tucker for hosting the Annual General Meeting.

 

WISA 2022-2023 Annual General Meeting : Report from the Chair, Tim Stead

I am pleased to present the Chair Report for Wine Industry Suppliers Association Inc (WISA) for the 12-month period ending 30th June 2023. 

I wish to thank entire Management Committee who volunteer their time representing WISA nationally as well as past-committee members who were with us during the 2022/23 year.

Also, I acknowledge the work done by Shirley Fraser during the term (to Jan 2023) and thank her for her contribution.

WISA champions wine supply chain in everything we do to engage with the sector.  Our pillars are to connect, cultivate, communicate and advocate.  To amplify the voice of supplier businesses and keep abreast of industry issues. We have done that through  

  • The Wine Industry Impact Awards
  • The Wine Industry Impact Conference held in Bendigo with support from Wine Victoria
  • The FOMENT program – tech revolution in partnership with Hydra Consulting and Flinders Uni NVI to support start-ups and the future in tech and wine business
  • Through BDM in trips to Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand and across the regions to engage with members and stakeholders.  
  • Coordination of WISA Uncovered event a Tindo Solar
  • Supporting the Wine Industry Mentor Program run by Wine Communicators Australia 
  • Onboarding new corporate members to the association
  • Regular communication through direct e-newsletters to members and broadcasts through social media channels
  • 2022 AGM at Catlin Wines - management committee new members, SOP and onboarding
  • In our three Working Groups now including Technical, Sustainability and Viticulture, engaging the thought leadership and passions of members – working alongside AGW committees, WISPA, SWA, Roadmap workshops and Sustainable Wine Roundtable.
  • Planning for 2023/24 activities – Impact Conference and Impact Awards. 

The last financial year was turbulent to say the least.  With global economic instability caused by high inflation and subsequent fiscal policy shifts, navigating the challenges of 2022/23 hasn’t been straight forward.   This placed pressures on membership revenue, revenue collection and event participation.   Whilst the year was largely unimpacted by the pandemic, many post COVID19 behaviours, such as last-minute participation commitments, made planning and budgeting for events very difficult.  Despite the challenges, WISA has continued to deliver high quality and high value services and benefits to its members, and the broader industry, as committed in its strategic plan.

The renewal of committee members at the previous AGM in Dec 2023, appointment of a new executive committee, and the recruitment of Cameron Hills to the EO role in Feb 2023 were significant changes in this year.  This brought about a deeper focus on the financial and administrative disciplines in the organisation as well as new and exciting ideas for the management of WISA into the future.

I thank Cameron Hills as EO to WISA for his contribution, and execution of these member focussed activities and for the initiative and independence demonstrated during the handover from the previous EO. I am very pleased that, despite a significant changing of the guard, WISA has continued to deliver on its strategy and focus, to represent the members and be relevant to the Wine supply chain in its entirety. 

In summary, the July 2022 to June 2023 year has been a challenging, but triumphant time for the organisation and, again, I thank the Management Committee and EO in further supporting the value proposition of the WISA organisation and our members.