Hi All,
Thanks for all the positive feedback re last week’s postcard - it does inspire me to keep them rolling.
At the very end of that epistle I flagged that we had finally settled on our vine prices for delivery 2023 and 2024- obviously not an easy process.
Given no one can reliably tell us what our labour and other input costs are going to be in 6 months’ time- let alone in 2-3 years- we had originally planned to insert a “price variation” clause into our contracts (common in construction industry apparently).
However, the more we looked into it, the more complicated it became and we have decided to stay with the fixed price model.
Where did we land? Our headline price on standard field grown vines (before any volume discounts) will rise 50c/vine in each of the 2023 and 2024 delivery years- this is ~7% price increase for each year (from a base price of $6.75 for this year’s grafting).
Prices on our Potted Vine, Tall Vine and SuperVine products will also go up by the same %.
Please note- the 50c/vine increase also applies to any surplus vines we might have from this year’s lifting, as well as any extra capacity we might have for this year’s grafting (waiting to get all our rootstock in before can finalise 2021 grafting capacity).
Given our “people costs” for seasonal staff have increased 25+ % since the start of Covid, and that the inflation tiger is tearing at the bars of its cage, I just hope we haven’t undershot?
What do I mean by “people costs”?
- starting hourly rates for our seasonal staff
- attendance bonuses (yes, we now incentivise staff to turn up 5 days/ week)
- staff transport (3 mini-vans)
- free cooked lunches for all staff Tues through to Fri (more on this initiative next week)
- one weeks extra sick leave, Matariki public holiday
- two full time Employee Experience Managers (read HR) to help our managers attract, train and retain staff
- Full time Wellbeing Manager (read H&S)
Crikey, with Fair Pay Agreements, increased unionization and a reset of our immigration policies all of the table, the 7% annual increases are starting to look decidedly conservative!
Photo 1: We rest our nursery fields every third year- this is mustard being mowed before turning in- a great bio-fumigant and OM enhancer
What’s been happening this week?
I have just spent three days on the road with Amy (in Central) and Nick (in Blenheim) attending as sponsors of the Organics Workshops- again all events were very well attended, great to see the passion and commitment of so many to tread more lightly on our one and only (and increasingly pissed-off) planet Earth, and so heartening to see this category enjoying strong growth amongst consumers in all our key markets.
A few of of the take-homes for me:
- for every 1% increase in soil organic matter (SOM), an extra 15 litres of water is held in every m2 of topsoil
- for every 1% increase in SOM we sequester between 10-20 tonnes of Carbon (depending on soil type and depth)
- there are at least 10 insect species in NZ which parasitise mealybugs, but only 4 are routinely found in vineyards (ie: big opportunity?)
- Organic wine exports growing 12% compound since 2017 c.f. conventional wine export growth of 5% compound
- UK organic wine sales increased 47% in 2019
- 12 mill more Brits likely to buy organic products since start of Covid
- Massive shortage of organic fruit in NZ
Photo 2: Full house at Organics workshop at Rippon’s amazing meeting hall
Photo 3: Some of the 200+ attendees enjoying the sunshine at the Marlborough Organics workshop
Quote of the week: “In all systems, complexity tends to be resilient, while simplicity is fragile” George Monbiot (via Dr Vaughn Bell- P+F)
Geoff’s question of the week: With an industry built on one clone of Sav Blanc ( M/S), grafted mostly onto one rootstock (3309) and grown mostly in one region- are we okay with that concentration of “system risk”? And if not, what should the varietal mix of our new rootstock blocks look like? All feedback much appreciated!
Cheers,
Geoff.
