The question of whether, how and why market value in South Africa’s old vine resources may be unlocked for the South African wine category is gaining momentum. And, it has been raised at a time when brand owners and marketers in the SA bottled wine category are intensifying efforts to leverage brand associations to raise the category’s status, reputation, competitive advantage and average price points. This is envisaged to accelerate growth and sustainability across the value chain.
However, very little market research or scholarly attention in organisational, economic and marketing sciences has meant that practitioners have been unable to get a glimpse into whether value for the old vines wine category and its resource base can be unlocked in the production, competitive and consumer exchange domains of the market.
The aim of this project is to open this line of research to understand whether, why and how inherent market value could be unlocked in South Africa’s old vine resources in:
The consumer-exchange market
- The objective is to investigate whether the old vine category presents a resonant value proposition to wine consumers in South Africa and leverages their intention to buy wines in this category at a premium. If no value can be unlocked at this point it is questionable whether value can be unlocked upstream. It is therefore a portal for value creation in the production and competitive spheres of the old vine market.
The competitive market between brands
- Old vine wines represent a novel, non-standardised market category and the aim is to investigate whether, how and why category membership provides competitive advantage to wine brand owners (introduction of new brands, attributes or brand/ line extensions).
The primary production market
The objective will be to understand and explain:
- The exchange conventions and variation of pricing for grapes from old vines to determine value creation.
- Key drivers, practices and cycles influencing old vine retention or removal.
Researcher: Dr Jonathan Steyn
