Innovative businesses honoured in the inaugural Wine Industry Impact Awards
A group of leading businesses are the toast of the Australian wine sector as winners of the inaugural Wine Industry Impact Awards.
The awards, an initiative of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA), were presented in a glittering ceremony at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide last night (Thursday 20 October). The gala event showcased business excellence and innovation in improving the competitiveness and capability of the nation’s grape and wine industry.
Just over 300 industry leaders from across the country’s grape and wine value chain attended the awards presentation hosted by Corrina Wright from Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards.
Judging by industry experts was conducted in six categories – grape growing, wine making, packaging, distribution and logistics, marketing and communications, and tourism.
Twenty two worthy nominations were received with entries short-listed to twelve finalists, some of whom were presented as partnership submissions. In their categories, the winners were:
- Bentleys SA Grape Growing – Eco Trellis and Byrne Vineyards;
- DW Fox Tucker Lawyers Wine Making – Seeley International;
- Australian Vintage Ltd Packaging – Blue H2O Filtration and Vinpac International;
- MGA Insurance Brokers Distribution & Logistics – Wineworks Australia;
- Australia’s Wine Business Magazine Marketing & Communications – Bottle Shop Concepts; and
- AV Plus Tourism – Getaways SA.
BENTLEYS SA GRAPE GROWING AWARD WINNER
Eco Trellis and South Australia’s Byrne Vineyards combined in a commitment to cost savings and environmental benefits with the introduction of eco-friendly steel posts, clips and strainers that minimise vineyard maintenance and repair requirements.
Judging comments in this category included the following: “With significant infrastructure investment and the time required to change practices in the vineyard, it is important to deliver solutions that can be easily integrated into existing systems. This allows improved outcomes for growers, especially considering the levels of economic activity they add to the regions in which they operate.”
DW FOX TUCKER LAWYERS WINE MAKING AWARD WINNER
Seeley International took honours in the Wine Making category with its Climate Wizard CW-80 indirect evaporative cooling technology to maintain ideal conditions in barrel halls, thereby reducing excessive evaporation of wine.
The technology delivers direct benefits in terms of environmental outcomes and cost savings in the wine maturation process.
Judges comments included: “Winemakers are often challenged by environmental and climatic issues from the vineyard through to the finished product. Wine producers also operate in a highly competitive market place and they need to continually improve quality while remaining pragmatic on costs.”
AUSTRALIAN VINTAGE LTD PACKAGING AWARD WINNERS
An innovative partnership between Blue H2O Filtration and specialist wine packager Vinpac International saw the companies take out the Packaging award.
They collaborated on the introduction and validation of a reliable and user-friendly apparatus that is semi-automated and provides more information than traditional technology for bottling filtration processes.
The novel filterability system has been adopted by other wineries and packaging facilities in Australia while also generating international interest.
The judges commented that the filtering solution developed by Blue H2O Filtration and Vinpac International was “a clever and sophisticated approach to a problem by looking at it from a completely different and non-traditional perspective.”
MGA INSURANCE BROKERS DISTRIBUTION & LOGISTICS AWARD WINNERS
Wineworks Australia took out the Distribution and Logistics Award with a specialist focus on the total logistics requirements across the full product cycle of wine production.
This expertise has resulted in lower capital and labour costs and higher levels of customer service, particularly allowing smaller to medium sized wine manufacturers to operate at levels commensurate to those of larger national and global companies.
Judges concluded that Wineworks Australia delivered outstanding distribution and logistics applications to improve the capability and competitiveness of their Australian customers.
AUSTRALIA'S WINE BUSINESS MAGAZINE MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AWARD WINNERS
Bottle Shop Concepts won the Marketing and Communications category with its approach to creating memorable consumer experiences that are fun and engaging.
In their carefully researched, planned and packaged events, Bottle Shop Concepts play a significant role in introducing new wine drinkers to Australian brands to add value to the industry.
Judges stated that: “An ongoing challenge for wine producers is finding ways to build their brand and to connect directly with consumers. Cutting through the clutter and noise to build brand awareness is critical.”
AV PLUS TOURISM AWARD WINNERS
In the Tourism category, Getaways SA was honoured as a tourism provider delivering quality, tailored experiences for visitors to South Australia’s wine regions. The company has demonstrated exceptional marketing skills and innovation in the support of customers while strengthening partnerships with wineries.
Judges concluded: “Wine tourism in Australia is undergoing a significant shift from being production focussed to consumer centric. Consumers are venturing to regions and cellar doors through event led experiences. The integration of food and complementary tourism products, such as tours and associated accommodation, are adding competitiveness and capability to wine producers.”
WISA Executive Officer, Matthew Moate, congratulated the award winners along with other finalists in the categories. The highly commended finalists included:
- 100th Monkey Vignerons and Hydra Consulting (Grape Growing);
- Chr. Hansen (Wine Making);
- Amorim Australasia (Packaging);
- Mainfreight (Distribution and Logistics);
- Denomination (Marketing and Communications); and
- Harvest Kitchen (Tourism).
Mr Moate said the awards would contribute to sharing of expertise and experience in and between the various grape growing regions and the supply chain businesses that support the industry through concepts, technologies, services and solutions.
