Innovate to survive in the SA wine industry

For many businesses, COVID-19 brought with it tragedy, but for family-owned winery Van Loveren, it has served as a catalyst for change. Susan Marais spoke to managing director Phillip Retief about the way in which the pandemic inspired innovation in their business.

- Susan Marais

FAST FACTS

The Van Loveren winery lost a quarter of its turnover last year due to South Africa’s COVID- 19 lockdown regulations.

The company has formed three black economic empowerment collaborations.

Within the next three years, 20% of Van Loveren’s wine grape intake will be sourced from B-BBEE producers.

The COVID-19 crisis and its related lockdowns hit businesses hard, and none more so than those in the alcohol and wine industry. As a result of the 2020 ban on alcohol sales in South Africa, which lasted for a total of around five-and-half months, Van Loveren winery in Robertson, Western Cape, run by the four Retief cousins, lost 25% of its turnover and a beloved B-BBEE partner.

However, the cousins didn’t lose their way; instead, the Van Loveren team chose to focus on innovating their marketing and product. And, unlike many other businesses, they were able to retain all their staff during this difficult period.

“Local wine sales were impossible for half [of 2020], but luckily we sell 40% of our wines overseas. This gave us a nice buffer,” says Phillip Retief, managing director of Van Loveren. He believes that diversification has been the family business’s saving grace. “I don’t think all wine companies necessarily did badly in the past year. Many do a lot of business overseas, and I think the weakness of the rand [last year] drove sales and assisted in growing margins.”