Fruit winery owner challenges Ontario's grape-only wine strategy

Thursday, March 5, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

Fruit wineries have been shut out of Ontario government programs benefitting the wine industry announced Thursday, and that has one farmer concluding the fruit wine industry gets no respect from government.

Halton Region fruit wine producer Bert Andrews says they’re not included in the two programs announced by Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal in a March 5 press release. The two programs, part of Ontario’s $75 million Grape and Wine Strategy, are the Marketing and Vineyard Improvement program and the renewed VQA Wine Support program.

Andrews says the fruit wine industry is small and spread out and that’s likely why the government seems to just want to talk about the grape growing regions across Ontario. “Small wineries like ourselves and others around the province just seem to get left out.”

This isn’t the first time the fruit wineries have been shut out of government programs for the wine industry. A two-year pilot project allowing VQA (Vintners’ Quality Alliance) wine sales at farmers’ markets that Ontario introduced last year didn’t include them either.

“You would think that since we’re made with 100 per cent Ontario-grown fruit, we’d qualify for these programs,” he notes. Just as VQA standards require wines to be made from 100 per cent Ontario-grown grapes, the Ontario government requires fruit wines to be made exclusively from fruit grown in the province. “It’s always extremely disappointing that we seem to be forgotten and only the large players get the benefits.”

Leal says in an email provided by his press adviser that Thursday’s announcement focused on wines made exclusively from grapes.

“We are aware of the desire of fruit wine producers to seek partnerships and support to grow their businesses,” he notes. To meet Premier Kathleen Wynne’s challenge to create 120,000 new jobs by 2020, “we want to hear from industry leaders on how they plan to meet that target and learn about new partnership opportunities with the province.”

Grape Growers of Ontario CEO Debbie Zimmerman says the Thursday announcement shows “the government is committed to our industry.”

“They recognize the economic value of our industry. They recognize that it also drives a lot of jobs in Ontario.”

She notes the vineyard improvement portion of the program announced Thursday extends the previous Ontario Vineyard Improvement program. “This is just a renewal of the funding that we got.”

The program offers growers 35 cents in government funding for every 65 cents they spend on eligible items to improve their vineyards. Zimmerman says growers invested about $21 million over the past four years in vineyard improvements through the program.

Leal’s senior press adviser, Bryan Bossin, says by email the Marketing and Vineyard Improvement program is designed to:

• Help stimulate the sale of Ontario wines both in and out of Ontario.
• Boost the marketing of Ontario’s wine regions as tourist destinations.
• Provide support to vineyards making wine and grape production improvements through the purchase of new machinery and equipment or new technology.
• Support research and innovation projects, such as viticulture work related to grape diseases and pests.

The renewed VQA Wine Support program will continue encouraging premium VQA wine sales in the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario), provide wineries with incentives to increase investments in productivity, innovation, tourism and export development, and “build on feedback provided by the sector to the previous program,” Bossin says.

The government and an industry steering committee will work together to determine how much funding each program gets annually “based on sector needs,” Bossin notes.

From 2009 to now, VAQ wine sales in Ontario have soared to $273 million from $100 million and the number of wineries in the province jumped to 200 from 133, the release says. BF