More on the budget

The good people at Cases Wine Warehouse have an interesting piece following on from last week's budget and the way in which the Irish wine market is developing. All small retailers will have to increase the cost of wine in their shops at various stages between now and Christmas/New Year as duty-paid stock runs out. This means that their customers will see various wines going up by about €1.50 per bottle, or more. This will lead to a deal of customer resentment, especially as many of the big supermarkets may very well hold their price, either by losing margin or by negotiating better deals with the big wholesalers. I have been a long-time supporter of minimum pricing which would help deal with a major health issue as well as giving small retailers a somewhat more level playing field. If the Government had ring fenced 15%, say, of the new duty increase to help maintain carers' allowances, then maybe people might have felt somewhat better about paying a higher price - I drink, some who really needs care gets looked after - but there is a disconnect between policies and the social consequences. The real problem, however, is that the current alternative (FF, SF, PBPA etc.) aren't worth voting for!

A good response

Today VinPro, the South African grapegrower association, released a response to the recent Human Rights Watch report on condition on South African fruit farms. I think it's a pretty good response, pointing out some anomalies in the HRW report but also promising to come down heavily on any farm which is identified as behaving improperly.

The other side of the coin?

Human Rights Watch has just published a report, Ripe with Abuse, on conditions pertaining on South African fruit farms. It's well worth reading as it outlines many of the serious issues affecting workers' conditions in South Africa. There are some aspects I would quibble with (I've never seen toilets or hand washing facilities in any vineyard, European or otherwise; South African wine farmers use very few pesticides although I don't know about the table fruit industry) but it is a pretty unsettling document.

Minimum pricing - saviour of the small off-licence?

On Friday last I was in London for an MW course day, in our lovely new offices on Fitzroy Square. One of the questions we discussed was from Paper 4 last year - Is wine a social evil? In the discussion I mentioned that, in my opinion, we are not far from a situation where a Loi Evin style ban on alcohol advertising is likely to be enacted in the UK and Ireland, and where minimum pricing of alcohol is also likely. These ideas usually bring about a fierce response from the drinks industry but it's worth considering whether there are more than just health benefits to these ideas.