WA wine research focuses on small producers and collaboration
Common issues for small wine producers who wish to grow and expand market reach include scale and cost. Yet, there may be options to ease the impact of these two issues.
In a Wine Australia funded ‘Incubator Initiative’, Curtin University researchers Kristina Georgiou and Jeremy Galbreath are studying the potential of collaboration among small producers to achieve the benefits of scale and to share costs.
Specifically, the researchers are investigating collaboration between smaller wine producers in regards to the transportation and logistics of shipping wine.
Twenty interviews involving both wineries and transportation/logistic providers have provided preliminary findings for the project.
According to Ms Georgiou, most of the wineries interviewed believe that there are benefits to engaging more in collaborative approaches to business.
Such benefits include cost savings due to economies of scale and new revenue streams due to opportunities to explore new export markets through sharing transport services. However, challenges remain in that a coordinated effort, and the processes needed for timely collaboration, are not easily solved.
The next step in the research project is to further explore data from the interviews and putting forth recommendations that can benefit the WA wine industry.
These findings and recommendations will be highlighted in a future edition of the Wine Industry Newsletter.