Earlier this month Dr Craig Emerson published his ‘Review of Regulatory Options for the Wine and Grape Sector’ which examined trade and competition dynamics in Australia’s grape and wine sector.
Part of Dr Emerson’s review looked at the relationships between grape growers, winemakers, and retailers and the weak bargaining power of independent winegrape growers and winemakers.
In particular Dr Emerson’s report looked at the impact of private label wines – those brands owned by retailers – on independent winemakers and consumer purchase decisions.
The report stated: “In retail outlets owned by Endeavour Group and Coles Group, independent winemakers are required to compete for shelf space with these retailers’ own-brand rivals. In the case of Endeavour Group, it owns vineyards, winemaking facilities and bottling facilities.
“While these ownership structures provide efficiencies and associated cost advantages over independent winemakers, they can reinforce oligopolistic market structures and, potentially, drive independent winemakers out of business.
“It is common practice for Endeavour Group and Coles Group to apply labelling on their own brands that does not identify the wine as an own-brand product, making it difficult for consumers to distinguish them from the independent winemakers’ labels.
“Consumers can be given the impression that the wine is being produced by a small, independent winemaker when, in fact, it is the product of an oligopolistic retailer.”
The report added: “Ultimately, it is for consumers to choose between an own-brand wine and that of an independent winemaker, but consumers’ choices are better informed when they are given accurate and easily accessible information about the producer of the wine.”
Dr Emerson said that he has worked with the retailers to help better inform consumers about their wine choices.
He wrote in the report: “To provide better information for consumers, I have obtained the agreement of Endeavour Group (Dan Murphy’s and BWS) and Coles Group (Liquorland, First Choice and Vintage Cellars; to be merged under Liquorland by end of 2025) to make a transition over the next two years to publishing on the back labels of their wines the ultimate owner of the winery and the owner’s address.”
A spokesperson for Endeavour Group, told The Shout, the business has already started making changes to its labels.
“Endeavour Group has already commenced transitioning labels across its Pinnacle beer and spirits range to reference Pinnacle Drinks as part of Endeavour Group, as well as online.
“We look forward to working with the Government as it considers the recommendations made by Dr Craig Emerson in the Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector.”
A Coles Liquor spokesperson told The Shout: “Currently our own-brand products have the Coles head office address on the back of the product, but to help customers more easily identify them, we have commenced the process to add ‘Liquorland’ to all own-brand products across beers, wines and spirits by January 2027.
To further enhance transparency, customers can browse our own-brand portfolio on the Liquorland website, via a designated webpage which can be filtered by product-type, brand and price.”
The move to add further information to beer brands to help identify independent producers so something that the Independent Brewers Association (IBA) is also pushing for. The IBA said Dr Emerson’s report also paints a roadmap for independent brewers.
In a statement about the Emerson report, the IBA said: “The IBA has long advocated for clear labelling of home-brand beer which has increased dramatically over the past five years, and has pointed to the significant power imbalance in relation to access to data for independent brewers.”
The IBA said it was encouraged by the two-year labelling agreement the Dr Emerson received from Coles and Endeavour, adding: “We look forward to securing a similar commitment from Endeavour Group and Coles Group for their home-brand beer.”
IBA CEO Kylie Lethbridge said: “Many aspects of the Emerson Report could have been written about the experiences of Australian owned, independent breweries. We wish we had the resources to commission such a report, but we are going to have to rely on government for a review.
“We made real progress in the last term of the Albanese Government and I have confidence that in this term of government they are committed to increasing competition and productivity in the beer industry and supporting small businesses. I look forward to continuing to work with Government to address the market failure in Australia’s beer industry.”