The 13th Wine Industry Outlook Conference, titled “Wine Australia: Flying the Flag”, was held in Melbourne on Tuesday 27 November.
A capacity crowd of 320 delegates, including winemakers, marketers, company directors, retailers and media representatives from across Australia filled the Melbourne Exhibition
Centre for the day-long event.
In his opening address to the conference, WFA President David S Clarke AO said, “The drought, water policy reforms and prospects of climate change are forcing us all to review our business models with an eye to where our sustainable future lies. Our greatest fear should not be reform, but reform complacency.”
Winemakers’ Federation of Australia Chief Executive Stephen Strachan commented on the day: “I think the level of support that the Outlook Conference receives from the sector every year is an extremely encouraging indication of the commitment we have as an industry towards promoting a sustainable future.”
Delegates also heard from Lawrie Stanford, Manager, Information and Analysis, of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation with his annual prediction of the supply and demand situation for the grape and wine industry.
“The current swing from over-supply to under-supply has been nothing short of dramatic,” commented Stanford “This is an opportunity to meet value-building goals.” Stanford forecast a crop of 1.22 million tonnes for the 2008 vintage, however he also predicted that 2009 would be even lower.
Yet he also had some good news for the conference: “Bottled wine shipments have revived and bottled wine unit prices are slowly on the rise.”
Feed
