Fair Trade Wine - Why it’s good for the Wine Industry.
Jon F.
At the The Wine Blokes we’ve embraced the concept of Fair Trade. To be honest, prior to investigating a little further, we had limited knowledge of the scope and consequence of the fair trade movement. Sure, we’ve all drunk fair trade coffee, and even consumed fair trade chocolate. But we have to admit, we never really stopped to think how it is helping disadvantaged communities and individuals. We were aware of the concept, but as with alot of these movements, you’re always a little sceptical as to wether the funds actually reach the pockets of the producers.
Like many agricultural products, the farmer only sees a very small proportion of the value of the end product, and this is especially true for poorer rural communities in developing countries. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. In 2005 and also in 2007, I travelled to South Africa and visited a number of wineries in the Cape. The wine region is for various reasons very pro-active toward helping the communities in which they operate. At one particular winery we visited, I spoke to the General Manager who passionately showed us his plans of building new accomodation for the small township that has sprung up around the estates entrance.
Growing and making wine is particularly labour and capital intensive relative to many other agricultural enterprises, and profit margins are often slim. Therefore Fair Trade when it works, creates an added and sometimes crticial incentive for poorer developing communities.
One of the great aspects of Fair Trade in the wine industry is that it will allow cooperatives to not only produce equivalent, but superior quality wine than many of its richer, new worldy counternparts. Grape vines it seems, do not discriminte between rich and poor, balck or white, and under the right conditions with the right resources, the Fair Trade system is giving these guys the ability to match it with the big guns. All indications are that the current release Fair Trade wine being made avaialble on the market is doing just that.
Check out some of the Fair Trade wine recommendations by the Wine Blokes here:
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