![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Winemakers.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDiluted Revenue<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet Distell Group Holdings Ltd, South Africa\u2019s biggest wine and spirits producer, reported Wednesday that domestic revenue held steady during the six months through December, despite losing 41 trading days.<\/p>\n The maker of mass-market wines such as Nederburg and Two Oceans got a boost from drinkers stockpiling after being caught short by the length of the first ban, which was more than six weeks longer than initially announced.<\/p>\n The wine industry was also able to fall back on exports, which amounted to 319.2 million liters in 2020, only 0.2% less than the previous year, according to industry body Wines of South Africa.<\/p>\n Volumes held steady even though transporting alcohol was banned for much of a five-week period that ended April, though 2019 output was affected by a lengthy drought, according to WOSA spokeswoman Maryna Calow.<\/p>\n While the winemakers have proven to be resilient, there remain a number of potential long-term challenges that may not be easy to shake off, Johan van Zyl, Distell\u2019s director of the global supply chain, said in an interview.<\/p>\n Cashflow Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n During the first two bans, \u201cwe ended up in a situation where we couldn\u2019t pay the cellars on normal terms, who then couldn\u2019t pay the farmers, so there was a huge cashflow problem,\u201d Van Zyl said. \u201cWe were able to make a plan to pay our farmers, but we believe not all were so lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n With the third prohibition, the problem of storage was added to the mix.<\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s harvesting season typically runs from late January through to mid-April, where enough grapes for about 1 billion liters of wine are picked. Once they are pressed and the juice is fermented and aged, the liquid has to be stored.<\/p>\n With a processing capacity of about 720 million liters and around 480 million liters of storage, a lack of room quickly becomes an issue.<\/p>\n \u201cBy December, the industry had about two thirds of a full harvest in stock,\u201d Van Zyl said. \u201cSo all of your storage space is already consumed, and some of your processing space.\u201d<\/p>\n For Berene Sauls, her dreams of adding grapevines, additional storage and a tasting room to her new property remain intact – but they will take longer to realize.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was supposed to be a five-year plan but I\u2019ve had to review it to an eight-year plan,\u201d she said. \u201cI am probably one of the more fortunate wine makers who exports to seven different countries. I\u2019ve been able to keep demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n