Thursday, February 05, 2015

Briefing on how the SA wine industry is contributing to GDP and job growth

On Tuesday this week, we attended a press briefing HOW THE SA WINE INDUSTRY IS CONTRIBUTING TO GDP AND JOB GROWTH.  You  might find these facts and figures very interesting or very dry and complex. We are happy to attach them to a blog for those of you who want to see how the Wine industry is affecting our national GDP, it is a very interesting picture but for those of you not very interested, we wanted to distill some of the information into facts that might be of interest.
To quote the report” “The industry, that remains one of South Africa's leading agri-exporters, accounted for 1,2% of the national GDP in 2013. In that year it contributed R36,1bn to the economy, (including wine tourism) via agriculture, manufacturing, trade and hospitality, while generating direct and indirect employment for close to 300 000 people.”  Did you know that you can help to grow employment in the country by drinking wine?  The employment growth is not just directly in the vineyards or on the estates but in the peripheral parts of the industry in your own areas, like your local wine shop or bottle store, in distribution, sales and marketing.  It is the age old trickle down effect. Yes, the Western Cape does contribute the most to the wine industry, followed closely by Gauteng but it is encouraging to learn that growth in wine and spirit consumption in all the other provinces does help grow their employment too.
The view of the lake from Cassia restaurant’s deck on Nitida wine farm in Durbanville
Arrival
Welcomed by Yvette van der Merwe of SAWIS
Professor Nick Vink of the University of Stellenbosch was there to interpret the figures for us
After the press briefing we enjoyed one of our favourite  wines, the Nitida Sauvignon Blanc and some Cabernet sauvignon was also available
Lynne and Winnie Bowman CWM chat to Professor Vink over a plate of great canapés
Snoek pate and salmon sashimi topped with sushi ginger
Salmon mousse topped with salmon caviar and savoury filled pancakes
Tiny muffins
Siobhan Thompson, WOSA CEO in discussion with a colleague
Mushrooms and blue cheese
Samoosas and really delectable lamb and almond meatballs with a chakalaka or sweet chilli dipping sauce
Spoiling us with small squares of chocolate ganache topped with vanilla crème
Sauvignon blanc grapes coming in to the farm cellar. So sweet and so pungent with figs and elderflowers
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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