The expected financial implications of establishment of a wine brand for a Swartland wine producer

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : The South African wine industry, especially the wine grape producers, are under financial pressure.The small to medium wine grape producers in the Swartland feels the most financial pressure due tothe low yielding and lower pay out received per tonne than in other regions. The quality of Swartlandwine grapes was found to be just as good and even better than the regions well known for quality.Therefore, the main research problem was to identify the cost implications of establishing a privatewine brand for the small to medium wine grape producer in the Swartland. It is believed that winebranding can be the solution for the current financial pressure wine grape producers find themselvesin.The main research method used was the mixed-method. More specifically, this study follows theexploratory design which falls under the main mixed-method. The reason for choosing the exploratoryresearch design is, because the study is dealing with a multiphase problem due to the inter-relatednessof the different phases of wine branding. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews toretrieve qualitative- and quantitative data. The qualitative data was used to understand thecharacteristics of a typical Swartland wine farmer, while the quantitative data was used to develop acosts implications model.In the cost implications model, the wine branding process was divided into three phases. The threephases are; farm level, production / cellar and marketing / distribution. The quantitative data from theinterviews was used in the model to measure the costs of wine branding in each of the three phasesover a five-year period. The model then calculates the total cost of establishing a wine brand, thebreak-even price at which a bottle of wine needs to be sold and the brand value over a five-year periodusing the historic cost method.Wine branding can be the solution to the current financial pressure under which wine producers findthemselves. Due to the high cost of branding and the risk involved, especially Swartland producersneeds to start focussing on wine production and not see it as a second enterprise to wheat farming.Focus should be placed on vineyard management, good wine making practises and efficientmarketing. Starting small and selling at higher prices while learning the tricks of the trade can lead tosuccessful wine branding. From the interviews it was also found that the risk and uncertainty of winebranding is not accepted with confidence by the typical cooperative producer.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University