VinPro and Wine Cellars SA merge New bargaining power for SA wine producers
Friday, 10 May, 2013
Vinpro
The two prominent wine producer organisations, VinPro and WCSA (Wine Cellars South Africa),are set to merge – a step which, apart from new benefits of synergy and effective service delivery to wine producers and cellars, will take this sector’s bargaining power and influence to a new level.
This year marks VinPro’s tenth anniversary as the representative organisation for
3 600 wine producers, while WCSA has acted on behalf of 56 producer cellars – who process 75% of the total South African wine grape harvest – since 1951.
The merger was announced during WCSA’s Annual Congress by chairperson, Henk Bruwer. It is the result of thorough deliberation over the past few years regarding closer collaboration between VinPro and WCSA, inter alia to prevent duplication between the two bodies, create bargaining power and improve existing service delivery in the wine value-chain even further.
The new, larger organisation will operate under the auspices of VinPro as from 1 July this year, with the possibility of a name change to be considered going forward. A new producer cellar division will be established within the organisation, and the current VinPro board will be supplemented by WCSA members.
The wine industry of South Africa will be more streamline to handle future challenges more efficiently, following this merger.