More competition in wine sales urged

Press, 7 October 1980, Page 18

More competition in wine sales urged

PA . Auckland? The reduced sales reported; by Cooks New Zealand Winer Company. Ltd. at its annualj meeting’may be an example' of things to come for other; New Zealand wine com-l panies, according to the; president of the New Zea-' land Wine Resellers Associ-' ation (Mr J. McVicar). New Zealand wine com-, panys have been on a sales' bonanza for more than 10! years, with annual sales in- 1 creases of up to 12 per cent) and record profits, he says! in a statement. To blame the dumping of' some wines produced before the regulations were introduced this year as the cause of a first-quarter poor performance may be seen by some as an indictment of the New Zealand wine industry for having overpriced; its products, and of having had too great a monopoly on the local wine scene for too long. Mr McVicar says. ! “Not many industries boast 400 exclusive shop

'outlets, where by law their ‘ product and only’ their prodiuct can be sold,” he adds. ; i The consumer may seei I some real competition in the istyle and quality of wines.l I if. as suggested by Mr D. E.| I Smythe, chairman of Cooks,; !the Industries Development' 'Commission report calls for' ■ increased imports of wine. ; “Surely”, says Mr McVi•car. ‘‘the test for the quality land acceptability of local; I wines must be to sell themI against overseas corn-; ! petition, and what better, place to do this than on; 'their home ground — where; they have the best opportu-; niti'es through sales teams and marketing expertise on the spot. “Exporting will then be less costly in terms of lessons learnt in a competitive 'home market.” Some wine companies, Mr McVicar says, have not had to respond to a supply-de-mand situation because of the limited availability of imported wines.