Business South August 2021

30 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Marlborough - Marlborough Grape Growers Co-operative Co-op thrives on sense of community T Richard Loader The Marlborough Grape Grower Co-operative’s total vine area is somewhere between 700–800 hectares. T he good thing about co-ops is that they should have a long history and evolve over time. While the Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative is still very young compared to wine cooperatives in Europe whose history spans a century or more, there is a real sense of community spirit and pride within Marlbor- ough’s growers that infuses a confidence in its longevity. CEO Mike Brown sums it up when he says the next 10 – 30 years will be fascinating and good years for the co-operative’s owner/grow- ers in terms of what they can achieve. Cooperatives in New Zealand have a long tradition of success, generating 18% of the country’s $193 billion GDP. “We’re the only wine cooperative in Marl- borough, but cooperatives are very common in the growing sector. Crops such as hops and boysenberries or blackcurrants all have cooperative structures.” While officially founded in 2014, the Marl- borough Grape Grower Co-operative’s history stems back to the early 2000s when three growers wanted to bypass the winery model and go straight to the customer. “It was really a matter of growers moving down the value chain and capturing more of the margin before it reached the distribution point. We’re now around eighty growers, or as we like to say, owners, because that is essen- tially what you are in a co-op.” The owner/growers are from throughout the Marlborough sub-regions with the average landholding around nine hectares. Total hectares is somewhere between 700 – 800 hectares which makes the cooperative around 2.5% of Marlborough’s vineyards but about 10% of the grower community — show- ing that there are larger growers not part of the Co-op. Mike says the cooperative provides a ‘nice home’ for smaller growers who are sometimes less attractive to larger wineries. “But we also have a number of larger grow- ers and we have some growers who supply a number of wineries and we are part of their portfolio. Some of our growers have day jobs with someone running their vineyards on management contracts. Others do all the work on their own vineyards. A number of our growers are also contractors and do some of the work on other members’ vineyards. So not all of our growers are the same and you couldn’t say there was one typical grower type.” The co-op model presents a very low cost/ low risk for its members. Absent of its own winery or a significant branded play, Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative runs a small office out of Renwick with a team of five including its own winemak- er and viticulturist. “We use contract wineries and make be- spoke wines mainly for offshore customers. The wine goes offshore in bulk in 24,000 litre flexitanks that fit in a container and then gets bottled in Australia or the UK, for example. “That’s a very economical and carbon friendly way of moving the wine offshore and the clients get what they want with a degree of input into how the blend is put together.” The Co-op was initially formed to supply one customer, The Wine Group, the third largest wine company in the US. Through The Wine Group a lot of grapes go into a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in the US called Cupcake. “That has been a very successful wine in the US and The Wine Group has been our anchor. But since the late 2000s we have been sup- plying other customers as well as The Wine Group.” The co-operative’s clients are now spread largely over three geographies — the United States, Australia and UK/Europe — and could be supermarket buyers or wine distributors who for example want a wine label specific for the restaurant trade. “They will come to us with a particular “It was really a matter of growers moving down the value chain and capturing more of the margin before it reached the distribution point.” Proud to Provide Harvesting Services to Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative Experienced in all Viticultural Services: Vineyard Development Providers of Experienced Labour Mechanical Services Harvesting 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN VINEYARD PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT Enquiries: vit.flowerday@xtra.co.nz Ph: Kurt 027 337 3007 Ross 0274 456 606