Set against a backdrop of increasing optimism for the wine industry, 150 stakeholders gathered to toast the success of its supply sector at the 9th annual Supplier of the Year Awards held at the Adelaide Festival Centre on Thursday night.
This important industry event is hosted by Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc (WISA), the national body that represents suppliers across the grape and wine value chain. The awards aim to recognise excellence in supply and manufacturing within the Australian grape and wine industry with a focus on Export, Environment and Sustainability, Innovation, Industry Engagement and the highly coveted Supplier of the Year Award.
This year, South Australian based national refrigeration specialist Cold Logic was awarded the DW Fox Tucker Lawyers Supplier of the Year Award. Cold Logic is celebrating three decades of servicing the Australian wine industry and can proudly boast having chilled over 655 million cases of wine over this period. With an aim to deliver sustainable, innovative and partner driven solutions Cold Logic was a worthy winner of this year’s award against other highly commendable finalists.
The judges commented that “Cold Logic showed strength across a number of the award categories. They demonstrated the ability to deliver innovative, customised solutions that provided both cost savings and environmental benefits. With strong testimonials and an impressive 30 year track record Cold Logic is a thoroughly deserving winner of the 2015 Supplier of the Year Award.”
The Wine Business Magazine Export Award was won by logistics supplier Wineworks Australia for their dedicated service offering supporting wine exporters. A finalist in both 2014 and 2015 the judges said “Wineworks prides itself on providing valuable export market intelligence and support to its customers. Furthermore they demonstrated a love of providing quality customised service to each client based on their unique logistics needs.”
Both the Banrock Station Wines Environment & Sustainability, and the Tarac Technologies Innovation Awards, were won by Eco Trellis. Developed by NZ Tube Mills, the Eco Trellis vineyard system is making a positive impact on both sides of the Tasman with uptake by many leading viticulturists.
“The Eco Trellis story is a great example for suppliers, where an innovative idea managed to turn around the fortunes of a factory servicing a declining automotive industry, to one that now produces a highly desirable, exceptional product. The environmental benefits of this technology are evident in its recyclability and in providing an alternative to CCA treated posts that can leach chemicals from the timber causing damage to the soil,” said the judging panel.
The Chr Hansen Chairman’s Industry Engagement Award was won by Scholle Industries and their project partners Accolade Wines, Yalumba Family Vignerons, De Bortoli Wines and grape grower CCW Co-operative. Their joint efforts in the revitalisation and repositioning of the cask wine market through the national ‘Ask for Cask’ campaign demonstrated key positive outcomes for consumers and support of regional communities across Australia.
The judges commented that “Scholle Industries was the standout candidate for this award. They perfectly demonstrated what the award was seeking to encourage. They showed leadership and initiative in attempting to turn around the fortunes of the cask wine market through the Ask for Cask campaign. Their collaborative approach is a model that other suppliers should aspire to replicate as it is an exceptional example of how a supplier can be at the very heart of generating positive outcomes for a wine category.”
Scholle is also an active participant with various industry bodies advocating in a number of areas covering commercial, technical and wine taxation challenges for the benefit of industry and consumers.
Other notable finalists included cork supplier Amorim Australasia, not for profit packaging supplier Barossa Enterprises, frost protection specialists ShurFarms represented by Hendy Solutions and oak barrel and alternatives supplier Seguin Moreau Australasia.
Chairman of judges, and WISA Vice Chairman, Tim Duval concluded “All of the finalists deserve recognition as leaders in their fields. I would encourage grape and wine producers to seek the support of these companies, who have each clearly demonstrated that they can add value to their clients businesses.”
