Wine
- Marie Malan, a farmer from Stellar Organics, a Fairtrade vineyard in South Africa. Photo: Transfair Germany
Fairly traded wines were introduced into the wider Fair Trade market in the mid 1990s by Alternative trade organizations (ATOs).
However, wine is still a relatively new market for FLO. The first standards for wine grape production were approved in October 2003. Initially, they were limited to South Africa. In August 2004, the standards integrated a Fairtrade Minimum Price and a Fairtrade Premium for Chile. In February 2006, a Fairtrade Minimum Price and Fairtrade Premium were set for wine grape production in Argentina.
Fairtrade Standards do exist for small farmer organizations as well as for companies which employ workers (hired labour). FLO certifies the production of wine grapes as the primary product for the ensuing wine-making process. However, most of the current certified producers do own or co-own wineries and are directly involved in the wine making.
South Africa
The first two FLO producers in South Africa were certified in 2003. All FLO-certified producers have to comply with special standard requirements for South Africa. They are required to run auditable capacity programs for their workers and have in place a scheme that enables workers to have at least 25% of legally protected interest in the company. These additional requirements are linked to the “Black Economic Empowerment Policy” of the South African Government that aims at substantially increasing the land ownership of the black population.
Currently there are over 20 Fairtrade Certified Vineyards, which are grouped around five wineries. The wineries, or wine cellars, are mostly also co-owned by the producers who supply their wine production to them. On the certified wine vineyards approximately 1900 permanent and non-permanent workers are employed.
Main markets for Fairtrade Wine from South Africa are currently the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Japan.
Chile
FLO started to certify the first four producers in 2004. All have been supplying the ATO market for some time without having been Fairtrade Certified.
In total, around 530 wage workers and cooperatives members benefit from Fairtrade. The main export market is Europe.
Argentina
The country has well over 208,000 ha under wine grape production and is the biggest wine producing and consuming country in South America.
Around 70% of the wine is produced in the state of Mendoza. Other wine regions are San Juan, San Luis, La Rioja, Rio Negro, Catamarca, La Pamp, Córdoba, Neuquén, Salta, and Tucumán. The industry has about 40,000 small- and medium-size producers and a few major wineries.
FLO completed the Fairtrade Standards for Argentina in February 2006. Currently, one wine producer is certified in the region of La Rioja, and about ten others are in the application process. These are located in the Mendoza region.
Sales volumes of Fairtrade Wine in thousands of litres
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
Austria |
| 4.52 | 5.39 |
Belgium | 13.38 | 40.91 | |
Denmark | 26.76 | ||
Finland | 1.00 | 62.00 | |
France | 4.10 | ||
Germany | 150.00 | 237.00 | |
UK | 618 | 1,127.44 | 2,409.77 |
Ireland | 1.94 | ||
Italy | 4.61 | ||
Japan | 1.80 | 1.80 | |
Luxemburg | |||
Netherlands | 100.99 | 352.00 | |
Norway | 3.86 | ||
Sweden | 47.27 | ||
TOTAL | 618 | 1,399.13 | 3,197.41 |
Where are the Fairtrade Wine Producers?
At the end of 2006, FLO International worked with 30 wine producing estates or farms in South Africa, Chile and Argentina. If you want to find out where they are located, please check the database available on the FLO-CERT website.