Wine Industry Strategic Exercise (WISE)

Input and buy-in from different industry role players are vital prerequisites for the crafting and, particularly, the implementation a new roadmap for the wine industry. 

The Wine Industry Strategic Exercise (Wise) officially commenced on 24 January 2014, when more than 30 industry leaders from different regions, organisations and wineries met in Stellenbosch and officially gave the green light for a collective industry strategy. Fragmentation in the industry and a serious need for alignment of industry efforts were cited as some of the key issues which the Wise process should aim to resolve.

A task team of industry leaders subsequently joined Agrifusion business consultant, Frans van Wyk, for a series of workshops to identify significant work streams. This group consisted of key representatives of cellars and organisations, as tabled.

The Wise implementation phase will see the involvement of numerous other significant industry role players, who will join specialised work streams to share their industry knowledge and experience.

While specialists have been tasked with strategic projects, industry consultation constitutes a fundamental piece of the puzzle and will play a determining role in the success of Wise. With the completion date set for September 2015, the wine industry has been encouraged to share comments and recommendations. Supporting documentation, which includes survey results, presentations and all the Wise articles featured in WineLand, is available on www.wisewine.co.za.

Comments and feedback can be sent to info@wisewine.co.za.

** The South African wine industry is in the process of developing a new strategic framework aimed at improving competitiveness and coherence through, inter alia, more focused communication and an industry-wide governance structure.

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