Simon McRae says that South African wine isn’t an ethical tipple
LOVERS buying wine for Valentine’s Day today are warned that South African workers supplying British supermarkets face poverty wages. In a new report entitled Sour Grapes, War on Want, the anti-poverty charity, cites worsening conditions for employees as British retailers and wine brokers drive down suppliers’ prices in order to boost their profits.
Amid rising food and fuel costs, large numbers of workers in the Western Cape region are struggling to feed and clothe their families and pay for healthcare and their children’s school fees.
Supermarkets control the biggest share of the British wine market, selling more than 80 per cent of all imports. Britain is the world’s largest importer of South African wine, buying almost a third by volume. Tesco sells most South African wine (20 per cent), the Co-op 14 per cent, Sainsbury’s 12 per cent and Asda and Morrisons 9 per cent each.
Wine also makes an important contribution to South Africa’s economy, with exports now topping $500 million a year. Its diverse climate means South Africa can produce a variety of wines that are popular in Europe. And relative proximity to Europe, compared with countries such as Australia or Chile, makes trade with South Africa even more attractive for European buyers.
Fully 90 per cent of all South African wine sold in this country comes through wine agents. These brokers are British-based companies carrying a portfolio of wines from around the world, and just
12 agents deal with more than 80 per cent of all sales.
But the Sour Grapes report, conducted by the International Institute for Environment and Development for War on Want and its South African partner, the trade union Sikhula Sonke, says that supermarkets and wine agents force suppliers to cut production costs by dominating markets and abusing their power as buyers. This traps vineyard and fruit employees in low pay and insecure jobs, with farmers increasingly hiring seasonal employees who earn less and lack the entitlements received by permanent workers, such as housing and sick pay.
Although many farms are in remote places, workers must walk there, since they are unable to afford transport. Most seasonal employees are women, earning less than men on permanent contracts and often the victims of sexual harassment at work.
Growing numbers of workers are migrants, who have to travel long distances in a desperate hunt for even temporary jobs. Migrants also experience problems in defending their rights, as they do not speak Afrikaans – the main Cape language.
So if we buy South African wine, we should remember that, as the workers producing it are concerned, supermarkets and wine agents are more sinners than saints. War on Want is asking shoppers to write to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, urging him to enable overseas workers to seek redress if British companies or their suppliers exploit them. It is time the British Government introduced regulation to stop this shameful abuse.
Simon McRae is senior campaigns officer at War on Want
