38 | Business builds from small beginnings VinPro chief executive Mark Robinson: “We’re always looking to develop our people and improve their skill sets.” Central Otago: VinPro T T Richard Loader REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 0274 531 296 brettsherri ngineering@gmail.com 6 Chardonnay Street, Cromwell, 9310 phone email address BRETT SHERRIFF E N G I N E E R I N G & M A I N T E N A N C E 4 Chardonnay St, Cromwell | 027 245 6472 | 03 445 1139 Specialising in ... • Electric motor controls installation & repairs • Electronic Innovations • Electrical design & installations • Industrial Process & control VinPro has been proudly supporting the growth of Central Otago’s wine industry since 1994, starting out as a mobile bottling service mounted on the back of a truck. As the region grew and matured as a producer of premium wines, so too did VinPro’s offering, and by 2000 it had established a footprint in Cromwell with the opening of a permanent bottling line. Investment in a wine tanker service enabled wine to be collected from the grower for bottling, and the mobile service was discontinued a number of years later. VinPro’s clients now have the choice of three services including; bottling, winemaking through its own winery, and temperature-controlled warehousing and distribution, with solutions tailored to meet the clients’ needs. “We bottle a large portion of the region’s wine,” says CEO Mark Robinson. “We also do a little bit of work for growers in Waitaki and Marlborough. We bottle between 300 – 350 thousand dozen bottles each year, across many different bottle formats, packed in upright or lay flat cartons, and we do both screw cap and cork — screw cap being the vast majority of course.” Offering winemaking services to growers who do not have their own winery, VinPro’s winery has a capacity of around 1000 tonnes each harvest. “We have a wonderful winemaking team here, and our clients often get medals and awards for wines that come out of our winery. We make wine for a range of well-known wine brands throughout the region, with a fifty/fifty mix between red and white wines. We store up to 7000 pallets at any one time in our temperature-controlled warehousing.” While for most of the year VinPro is operated by a core team of forty, that number swells to around fifty at certain times of the year, including harvest, to meet demand. “We have quite a diverse workforce in terms of skill sets, from casual workers helping out with manual labour particularly in bottling, right through to people with general management and administrative skills. In the winery everyone has wine making experience, particularly our permanent team. “We have a very experienced winemaking team with a range of specialist skills. Our GM of Operations is also a winemaker and has considerable bottling operations experience. “We’re always looking to develop our people and improve their skill sets so that they can either go onto different things in this business or maybe take their skills elsewhere for their own career development. “We’ve just put seven staff through the Government funded Aspire2 Management Course, available to those who do not have a tertiary qualification.” Mark acknowledges there have been challenges in attracting staff over the last few years, but says that is not a unique situation, particularly in a small town like Cromwell. “Central Otago has unemployment of 1.3%, which has meant that it has been challenging to recruit and retain talent. We’re starting to see the pendulum shift a little bit though and the labour market doesn’t feel quite as tight. “There are more people available with better skill sets and so I’m optimistic about the way that it’s looking. “We’re always looking for people with the right motivation, attitude and willingness to learn.” “We have a wonderful winemaking team here, and our clients often get medals and awards for wines that come out of our winery.”
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