Small and medium sized wine farmers are still struggling to overcome the devastating effects of the ban on wine sales under the COVID-19 regulations, despite pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on 13 September 2021 that South Africa can move to lockdown Level 2. Wine farmers welcome this announcement but are of the opinion that all COVID-19 related restrictions on the sale of wine should be lifted to allow sales that comply with licence conditions to return to normal.
With the return to Level 2 The Wine Farmer and the OK Group joined forces to distribute the wines of family wine farmers more widely in South Africa. A new promotions shelve will be set up in 142 OK Liquors, OK Grocers and OK Minimarkets that will give exposure to three wine farms on a rotation base every eight weeks.
After a year of the weakest sales to date in the wine industry, this initiative is the first of its kind.
“Since the launch of The Wine Farmer in 2020, we have been negotiating with the OK team to make this shelf a reality,” says Kwagga Boucher, CEO of The Wine Farmer. “As farmers we know how difficult it is to get your products on shelves nationwide and although eight weeks is not long, it will help you to get foot in the door with owners of liquor shops who might decide to stock your wine permanently,” Boucher adds.
With this shelf, OK also wants to give their consumers access to wines that were not readily available before. The owners of the 142 shops seized the opportunity and look forward to working with the family wine farmers.
Visit you nearest OK and support the store that supports family wine farmers. Visit The Wine Farmers’ website to see which wines are available.
