|
|
 |
| |
Ernst and Julio Gallo, founders of the famous wine label |
Global production hits
the independents
Wine drinkers now care more about the brand than what is in the bottle and this means more preservatives
THE American wine company E&J Gallo was until recently the largest wine maker in the world. Now it is fighting to survive as an independent company and is threatened by the continuing industrialisation and globalisation of the wine industry.
Gallo’s problems are the result of a process that began in the food industry in the 1980s and caused the disappearance – as indepenpent companies – of many household names.
Firms such as Cadbury’s – a great company with a long and legendary history – are now facing an uncertain future. Generally the consumer is not aware of this process. Occasionally public senses are shocked by the announcement that a product such as HP sauce is to be made abroad.
What has happened to the food industry is now impacting on wine. Wine has traditionally been identified with place – a country, maybe a region, perhaps a district or even an individual vineyard.
Certain areas were regarded as superior and within those areas special bits of land were said –in the hands of the right winemaker – to produce very special wine.
Technology and scientific knowledge is confusing this traditional reality. We are coming to a time when wine of an acceptable quality to the average consumer can be made almost anywhere.
Increasingly in the UK, a new generation of wine drinkers identifies with brands and not with winemaking regions. Where the wine is made and what is in the bottle is not important. It is the taste that counts.
Winemaking used to be a simple business. Wine was made with grapes to which were added yeasts for fermentation and perhaps sulphite as a preservative. According to the Australian Wine Research Institute, the European Union – regarded as a restrictive regulator – now permits 44 individual additives and processing aids. The number is accelerating. Only one, sulphite has to be on the label.
On the face of it independent wine producers face a bleak future. But there is another side to this story. Scares such as the recent paprika scandal whereby one contaminated ingredient led to dozens of products being withdrawn from supermarket shelves – even upmarket ones – are fuelling a growing awareness among consumers.
There is a feeling that much of the food and drink on sale in supermarkets is of a lower quality then it should be and that fresh food which shuns science and technology in favour of naturalness is better value.
The large producers have tried hard to encourage UK wine drinkers to trade up to dearer wines.
Despite heavy promotional discounting – or perhaps because of it, – the supermarket shopper remains stubbornly committed to cheap wines, costing less than £5.
On the other hand there are signs that some consumers are willing to pay more for the right wines. Majestic wine warehouses report record profits and a 30 per cent increase in sales of wines costing more than £20.
There is a growing vanguard of what American writer Jeff Leff calls Chowhounds, described as the kind of person, who when informed that a shop 15-minutes walk away is selling the best sandwiches in town, will without hesitation devote half his hour lunch break getting there and back.
The French call such a committed pursuer of exceptional good ordinary food and drink, a gourmand, as opposed to a gourmet, a faddish, snobbish creature who regards food as art, or a glutton, who is simply a food addict.
For many small independent producers the near future is probably secure – provided they can reach their potential market. That means having access to convenient outlets to sell their products.
Here there is hope. The number of small food shops and independent wine outlets is growing.
Threshers are about to franchise some of their premises and encourage their operators to use their own initiative and buy direct from small producers. There is also a growing campaign in favour of small shops. At last the tide may be turning. |
 |
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
