The “attacks by anti-alcohol fundamentalists” and the “serious difficulties” that the increase in production costs has caused for the profitability of the wine sector, which is mainly made up of micro and small businesses, are the biggest challenges the sector is facing, he says. the president by ViniPortugal. Frederico Falcão has just been re-elected for a second term at the head of the institution responsible for the international promotion of Wines of Portugal and promises to soon launch a survey of companies to understand the “economic realities” of the sector and what kind of measures needed.
“Production costs have risen enormously, especially for bottles, and they continue to do so, despite the fact that the energy price has fallen. It is a serious problem that threatens the economic viability of many companies,” admits this person in charge. . Asked about the magnitude of the problem, Frederico Falcão mentions situations where prices double, “and sometimes even more”, and smaller companies “cannot pass on in the final price”. The sector inquiry will make it possible to understand the real dimension of the problem, he believes.
Regarding the anti-alcohol campaigns, the president of ViniPortugal warns against “attacks by fundamentalists, without any scientific basis”, who are beginning to erect trade barriers, “whether through taxes or other restrictions on imports, sales and wine promotion”. . This is the case in Ireland which, having set a minimum price for the sale of alcoholic beverages and increased the price of a bottle of wine to EUR 7.4, wants to make shock labels, such as tobacco, warning in red letters that alcohol consumption causes liver disease and that there is a direct link between alcohol and deadly cancers. “You cannot fight excessive consumption by tackling all types of alcohol. This cannot be the way,” he emphasizes, recalling that since 2008 the sector has had a social responsibility program, Wine in Moderation, which develops information and education actions in the field of responsible wine consumption.
Regarding the balance of the mandate that has now ended, Frederico Falcão recalls that these were “very difficult” years, with “abnormal and unlikely” scenarios, such as the pandemic and war, that brought “great hardship” to the sector. Still, he points out, “this was the second three years in which the sector grew the most in terms of absolute sales of wines abroad”, with an increase of 84 million euros between 2020 and 2022, surpassed only by the increase of 89 million in export realized between 2010 and 2012. “Despite all the setbacks, things went quite well”, he admits.
There are three defined priorities for the next three years, starting with the elaboration of a new five-year strategic plan for Portugal’s wines. The current one expires in 2023 and set a target of one billion euros in exports, which will only be possible if foreign sales grow by 6.2% or more this year. An “unlikely” growth, this official admits, downplaying the failure to meet the target. “We break export records year after year, even with huge setbacks in the global market. If we don’t reach the billions, we will be here to define new, very ambitious targets.”
Frederico Falcão does not lift the veil on the five-year targets, saying only that exports represent an average of 47% of the wines produced. “We don’t have the capacity to grow much in volume, the goal should be based on increasing the average price,” he says.
On January’s export figures, which registered a year-on-year decline of 0.71%, Frederico Falcão devalues, recalling that it is a month subject to stock adjustment, due to Christmas. Just as he devalues the controversy surrounding the growth of wine exports to Russia: “The increase in the consumption of Portuguese wines is beneficial for every market, including the Russian one. We are stopping all promotions in Russia, we are not making any investments.” in advertisements, but I don’t see any reason for Portugal to stop selling wines to the Russian people, who don’t seem to be to blame for this situation”.
As for the priorities of the new mandate, the second is to ensure that the National Sustainability Reference is recognized across borders by buyers and consumers, and that producers implement it here. “We must have a very ambitious number of certified operators, and it cannot be 30 or 60%, it must be more, especially the almost 500 who participate in ViniPortugal actions,” he says.
Finally, Frederico Falcão plans to discuss ViniPortugal’s financing and find ways to streamline it. Of the annual budget of €8.39 million, about five million comes from EU funds and two million from the so-called national envelope, which corresponds to sector funds raised by the Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho. “We have to ask ourselves if there aren’t more efficient ways to collect that money. We never know how much money we’re going to have available and often we can’t access that until after we’ve approved the promotional plans. We can’t have that instability not’, says this official, who also promises to look for new forms of community funding.
Ilídia Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
