Organic winemaker, Angove Family Winemakers, has begun exporting wine to China in a move that could add more than $3 million to the company's sales a year.
The company says it received its first official order received from its Chinese distributor for Angove Organic Cabernet Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.
Angove says the order follows "years of work and collaboration" between Australian Certified Organic, Angove Family Winemakers and its distributor partner in China.
“Once our vineyards and winery achieved certification to the rigorous Chinese Organic Standard late last year it has been a slow, at times tedious, but steady process to actually receive the order and get product to market,” says Mark Ramm, export manager for Angove Family Winemakers.
“There were a lot of hurdles we needed to overcome once certification was achieved including hand applying specific Chinese supplied certification stickers to each and every bottle.
“Now that we have done this once we can streamline the process to ensure the demand potential we are hearing about is fully achieved – the Organic wine market in China is potentially worth $3 to 4 million dollars in additional revenue to us so we need to do it right, first time and every time.”
Australian Certified Organic, a subsidiary of Australian Organic, says Chinese shoppers want products that have been grown free from synthetic pesticides, genetic modification and additives and they want to support farmers who care about the environment.
“We are working closely with Austrade in China to ensure products wearing the Australian Certified Organic logo are well represented," says its general manager of commercial Joanne Barber.
Organic produce sales in China are currently growing at 20 per cent per annum according to Austrade.
Angove has 172 acres of organic vineyard in the Riverland and McLaren Vale with an additional 136 acres in conversion and more to follow the three year process as demand continues to grow. Angove also sources grapes from other Certified Organic growers.
Angove also sells organic wines in Canada, England, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Scotland, and plans to roll out into other markets.
