{"id":41448,"date":"2013-03-24T08:04:22","date_gmt":"2013-03-24T06:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=41448"},"modified":"2013-03-25T12:32:51","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T10:32:51","slug":"sa-wine-industrys-social-responsibility-praised-by-top-swedish-wine-buyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/sa-wine-industrys-social-responsibility-praised-by-top-swedish-wine-buyers\/","title":{"rendered":"SA wine industry’s social responsibility praised by top Swedish wine buyers!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A delegation from Systembolaget, a Swedish liquor monopoly according to a media release issued on behalf of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), has declared itself to be \u2018very impressed<\/em>\u2019 with the social responsibility work being done by our local wine industry.<\/p>\n

Led by Chairman\u00a0 Dr Cecilia Seideg\u00e5rd and CEO Magdalena Gerger, the Systembolaget delegation visit earlier this month included the full board\u00a0 of directors of the company, a visit to the Cape Winelands which had been planned a year ago, and was not initiated as a result of the more recent farm worker strikes. The Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Gerrit van Rensburg accompanied the visit to the wine farms by the delegation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sweden is an important export market for the South African wine industry, buying 33 million litres of wine a year, across \u2018several hundred labels\u2019<\/em>. Two years ago our country was Systembolaget\u2019s largest supplier.<\/p>\n

Ms Gerger said that her company wants to promote a supply chain of wines that is \u2018fair and honest towards people and the environment\u2019<\/em>, important requirements for Swedes. Faitrade registered wines are well supported, and our country was praised by her for its strong support of Fairtrade and for being at its forefront internationally. The reasonably new WIETA accreditation<\/a> <\/span><\/strong>may become a Systembolaget tender criterion, she said. She did however add that there is room for improvement, encouraging wine producers to improve conditions for their workers.<\/p>\n

Systembolaget conducts audits regularly on its source countries, and the delegation conducted their audit while in the Winelands. Ms Gerger said that should a wine estate\u2019s audit result not be satisfactory, an action plan would be developed and it would be re-audited twelve months later.\u00a0 Should the owner not make the required changes, the relationship would be terminated. She added: \u201c<\/em><\/span>We believe anyone involved in the making of the products we sell should earn a living wage. We are at present involved in the revision of the Code of Conduct for the Nordic countries, and there is every indication that the revised code, which is expected to come into effect in 2014, will contain a \u2018living wage\u2019 condition<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Minister van Rensburg welcomed the visit by the delegatiom, and said that his government believes that \u2018real improvement in social conditions can only be brought about through economic growth\u2019<\/em>. He said that his government welcomed the \u2018trade relations with Sweden\u2019. <\/em><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Strikes of farmworkers, including those working on wine farms, in January this year and November last year, severely damaged South Africa\u2019s image as a tourist destination. The effect on wine sales is not yet known, COSATU Western Cape leader Tony Ehrenreich having called for a boycott of South African wine purchases by overseas wine lovers as well as by retailers at the time of the strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: <\/span>www.whalecottage.com<\/span><\/a> Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A delegation from Systembolaget, a Swedish liquor monopoly according to a media release issued on behalf of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), has declared itself to be \u2018very impressed\u2019 with the social responsibility work being done by our local wine industry. Led by Chairman\u00a0 Dr Cecilia Seideg\u00e5rd and CEO Magdalena Gerger, the Systembolaget delegation visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,516,21,19,293],"tags":[18601,32378,1276,3242,13100,18602,3898,18600,1277,32387,32373,16964,32382,155],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t