By Andy Young
Angove Family Winemakers has sealed a historic deal, with its first official order for its organic wines from a Chinese distributor.
The deal makes Angove one of just a handful of Australian wine producers to export Organic wine to China.
The order for Angove Organic Cabernet Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot will soon head to China following years of work and collaboration between Australian Certified Organic, Angove Family Winemakers and its distributor partner in China.
Mark Ramm, export manager for Angove, said: "Once our vineyards and winery achieved certification to the rigorous Chinese Organic Standard late last year it has been a slow, at times tedious, but steady process to actually receive the order and get product to market.
"There were a lot of hurdles we needed to overcome once certification was achieved including hand applying specific Chinese supplied certification stickers to each and every bottle.
"The Organic wine market in China is potentially worth $3-4 million dollars in additional revenue to us so we need to do it right, first time and every time."
Australian Certified Organic is a subsidiary of Australian Organic and the company's general manager of commercial, Joanne Barber, said Angove's export to China represents a significant achievement.
"Chinese buyers have a lot of confidence in food and beverages labelled with the Australian Certified Organic logo. Like Australian shoppers, they also want products that have been grown free from synthetic pesticides, genetic modification and additives and they want to support farmers who care about the environment. We are working closely with Austrade in China to ensure products wearing the Australian Certified Organic logo are well represented."
The Angove Organic range is one of the most widely accessible organic wine ranges available in Australia and the winemakers currently has 172 acres of Organic vineyard spread across the Riverland and McLaren Vale with an additional 136 acres in conversion.
The China deal represents another step in Angove's growing global portfolio, as the winemaker has already shipped and sold Organic wines in Canada, England, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Scotland.