Toasting high achievement of businesses along nation’s wine industry supply chain

The vision and innovation of leading supply chain companies in the Australian wine sector are being celebrated with awards of excellence in the industry that contributes $45.5 billion annually to the nation’s economy.

The coveted 2019 National Wine Industry IMPACT Awards were presented in Adelaide on Thursday 17 October to businesses that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in uplifting the capability and competitiveness across the industry ranging from vineyard management to consumer experiences.

Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA) presented the awards at the Adelaide Town Hall before almost 400 guests from a wide cross section of the nation’s brands and business leaders.

Independent industry experts selected the winners from sixteen short-listed businesses that have introduced new concepts, technologies and solutions in a sector that employs more than 163,000 people servicing national and global markets.

The awards were presented in categories including grape growing, winemaking, packaging, engineering, distribution and logistics, marketing and communications and tourism, along with a start-up prize recognising an exceptional emerging enterprise.

WISA Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Moate, said the achievements of the award finalists and winners reflected the intensely competitive nature of the industry and its total commitment to excellence.

“These are highly coveted awards that recognise high achievers along the complex supply chain that links vineyards to markets and consumers,” he said. “They are businesses that set global benchmarks across the nation’s 65 grape growing regions and they combine to enhance the profile and quality of Australian wine and wine tourism.”

Tim Whetstone, the South Australian Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, was among the special guests at the awards ceremony, and he led congratulations for the winners.

“These companies have shown a commendable commitment to excellence in the wine production supply chain and innovation that can provide a broad range of benefits for the wine sector,” Minister Whetstone said.

“These are businesses collaborating locally, nationally and globally to bring cutting edge industry ideas to life. Given the importance of the wine industry to South Australia’s economy, it is important to recognise and celebrate advancements that can benefit the State’s wine production.

“In South Australia, we produce 80 per cent of the nation’s premium wine, and at any one time there are nearly a billion bottles of the State’s wine on tables and in cellars, so recognising wine industry businesses across the supply chain is vital.

“The finalists and winners have all demonstrated inspirational leadership and have thought ‘outside the square’, and I would like to congratulate them on their recognised achievements.”

The winners in their categories are:

Grape growing partnered by Bentleys SA

• Ocvitti Pty Ltd challenged traditional viticultural management practices through research and development of Ocloc tailored steel vineyard trellis systems and supporting products to deliver more profitable and environmentally sustainable outcomes.

Winemaking

• Kauri, a multi-faceted and innovative supplier of premium oak barrels to wineries along with a range of yeast and nutrient products to meet the changing needs of producers and consumers and the growing demand for organic wines. 

Packaging partnered by Australian Vintage Ltd

• Blue H2O Filtration was co-nominated with Torresan Estate wine bottling for the development of a high performance, automated filtration system that improves production line efficiencies, including the labour saving option of off-site monitoring using smart phone technology. 

Engineering

• Hawk Engineering, in partnership with Domain Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Riverland Heavy Vehicles in Renmark, has developed advanced on-board load cell kits for precision weight measurements of grape harvests with smart phone data recording to assist in logistics efficiency. 

Distribution and Logistics partnered by MGA Insurance Group

• WineWorks Australia, a logistics award winner for the third time in four years, has demonstrated continuous supply chain efficiency improvements in the transport, warehousing, repacking, reworking and export processing in partnership with progressive producers. 

Marketing and Communications partnered by Wine Business Magazine

• Revel Global is a game-changing national and global special events promoter of fun wine orientated experiences. It improves social connection and brand advocacy between wineries and consumers wanting to explore and learn about wine. 

Tourism

• Fastrak Asian Solutions and Wine Tourism Australia have progressed the Growing Wine Tourism education program in conjunction with the Australian Tourism Export Council and with support from Wine Australia to help businesses promote their tourism profile and potential. It is visionary and empowering information and awareness program backed by industry professionals to enhance tourism experiences. 

Start Up

• Taglog, co-nominated with Group Logistics, has developed an advanced, on-line work management system to provide accurate and transparent information on vineyard tasks.  Proof of concept trials of the technology demonstrated excellent results in cost efficiencies, goal setting and management controls. 

NOTE: An independent economic report on the Australian wine industry, released by Wine Australia on Wednesday 16 October 2019, showed Australian grape growers, winemakers and wine tourism operators contribute $45.5 billion to the Australian economy supporting healthy regions and 163,790 direct and indirect full and part-time jobs.