The United Kingdom and South Africa currently enjoy an annual bilateral trade agreement of around 9.6 billion pounds (R100 million).

South Africa currently imports about R1.7 billion worth of Whiskey into South Africa and we export about R997 million worth of wine to UK.

UK retailers and importers are moving to import greater quantities of wine in bulk and bottling wine in the UK.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, said in an interview in Cape Town that this change in the UK buying pattern has already led to as many as 700 job losses in the bottling industries in South Africa. However, he did stipulate that these losses were not only motivated by environmental issues and that it is important for the South African Government to respond to these concerns.

While he agrees that South Africa needs to reposition itself in the wine industry (and other industries) on a more sustainable basis (South African Government supports this in a number of ways) he did raise concern over the UK government supporting a partial study which encourages it's retailers to import wine in bulk because it will reduce the foot print.

Government has responded by commissioning a similar study to establish the environmental impact of importing whiskey into South Africa in bulk and bottling locally.   He said: "We will be sending an important signal - what is good for exports must also be good for imports and should South Africa take a decision to move towards importing more whiskey in bulk the jobs lost in the wine industry may be gained back on the whiskey side".

"South Africa does have a responsibility to protect its trade interests. Our view is that this is a serious risk to the South African wine industry." South African Department of Trade and Industry

The good news is that a decision has been taken by cabinet to assist the wine industry with new export market identification in the hope of making South African wine industry less dependent on European markets.

In an interview given by Su Birch, CEO Wines of South Africa, following the decision by UK retailers to move towards importing in bulk, she mentioned that this has had a negative impact on the job market in South Africa. However, on a more positive note Government has discussed assisting in the diversification of export markets, alternative packaging initiatives and full analyses of the wine value chain.

"We have come to accept that this is a structural change in Europe and it is unlikely it will go backward, supermarkets are powerful and they need to offer wine at a competitive price point to their consumers. They have invested in technology, there is no loss of product quality and they can package the effort as a green effort so we have to look at other alternatives" Su Birch

The structural changes that have been made in moving from bottled imports to bulk imports have not only affected us.But South Africa is in a positive position due to our closer proximity to the European market than our bulk competitors, Chile, Argentina and Australia.

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JF Hillebrand South Africa: Providing solutions for a quality supply chain for wine. 

With the dramatic changes in the profiles of both the beverage industry and the shipping industry over the past 25 years, wine exporters often find their products subject to adverse conditions such as fluctuating temperatures; contaminated containers and long waiting times at ports.

All of the above factors mean that, throughout the journey from vineyard warehouse to retail shelf, consignments of wine travel longer distances to their markets and are therefore more exposed to the risks presented by modern international shipping.

As a result of these issues we have developed a range of specialist services to help shippers ensure that beverages arrive in optimum condition, whatever the climatic or external conditions the cargo may face. These services include VinRoute, VinLiner and Vinsurance which, combined with our expertise and personal attention, ensure that beverages are shipped with the care and attention they deserve.

We were delighted to host Mr Pierre Corvisier, Director of New Services - JFH Group Management Services on his visit to South Africa in August where he gave 2 workshops in this regard.

"Providing a quality and a truly professional wine-spirits supply chain these days poses an even larger number of operational challenges. Who is truly fit to handle these challenges?

Longer shipping distances and transit times, more vessel relays on route, port congestion, multiple sources of both high and low temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere, changing wine types (organic wine, the success of the more delicate Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, the lesser level of free and dissolved sulphite or "abv") ...all of these expose the wine to a considerably higher level of "stress".

Shipping wine in dry containers on a large number of trade lanes during extreme temperature seasons may no longer be enough.

The historical climatic profile of shipping routes (our VinRoute) allow JF Hillebrand to freely guide the Wineries and their Distributors on how to manage "risk of shipping" best, through a careful selection of the appropriate container equipment type. Insulation solutions were rolled out by JF Hillebrand (our VinLiner), along with an extended coverage of risks by way of our cargo marine insurance pack (our VInsurance+), allowing Wineries and their Distributors peace of mind.

If we may suggest...don't just "wave good bye and good luck" to wine that is leaving your Winery in a dry container"

• VinRoute � is JF Hillebrand's internal database of historical shipping and meteorological data, providing the average outside temperature and humidity conditions that wine and spirits shipments will face as they travel from origin to destination.

• VinLiner � is a protective liner foil, placed in dry containers. It dramatically reduces the impact of thermal shocks during day and night and protects against radiation and thermal conduction forces that occur on board the ship at the terminals, at the relay ports and on land. VinLiner also protects against thermal shocks, bad smells and humidity infiltration that might occur during transport.  

• Vinsurance+ is JF Hillebrand's marine cargo insurance package, which offers cover for thermal shocks. It is only available when using operating reefers or for shipments insulated with JF Hillebrand's VinLiner integral full container or pallet cover products.

For further information on any of JF Hillebrand's temperature protection solutions, please contact your local JF Hillebrand representative.

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We have listened to our customers and once again JFH is making every effort to be of service to you.

We are delighted to have launched our new consolidation service from Cape Town to Mauritius. The pilot project started in September 2012 using an insulated container and we predict that during October 2012 the service could be extended to a REEFER consolidation.

18th of July is an iconic date and people worldwide are encouraged to devote time (specifically 67 minutes) doing community service. The time offered is to pay tribute to the anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and to celebrate his 67 years of service.

This year on the 18 July he celebrated his 94th birthday and we at JFH - South Africa were fortunate to be involved in projects in Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Durban.

JF Hillebrand South Africa was invited by Exporters club of Durban to host a Sauvignon Blanc wine tasting and food pairing evening in June this year. The wines were selected from 5 different regions in the Western Cape including - Darling, Robertson, Cape Point, Stellenbosch and Grabouw.  

As JF Hillebrand, we pride ourselves in the fact that we offer a premium service to our customers with regards to their international logistics requirements. However, we are passionate about the wine industry and this was a perfect opportunity for us to showcase Cape Wines locally in South Africa.   The function was hosted at the Durban Yatch club on a typical hot humid Kwazulu -Natal evening and the wines were received gratefully! How did the Durbanites fair in the blind tasting competition? - rather well actually! Which wine did they choose as their favorite? - the wine we predicted they would choose!

"The 2012 harvest in the Robertson Wine Valley, like many other wine regions in the Western Cape was exceptional. Exceptional to such an extent that fathers were telling their sons to savour this year, because quality like this doesn't come round too often!" Excitement started building in 2011 already when the Valley experienced a great winter with enough rain and cold nights. The rest of the growing season also did not disappoint and although some producers finished harvest a bit later than usual, they were happy with the overall quality.

Naturally, everyone was even more curious than usual as to what the wines would be like as fermentations were completed and entries for the annual Young Wine Show was due shortly after.

And the wines did not disappoint!

JFH was once again proud to be given the opportunity to sponsor the Robertson Young Wine Show. We would like to thank all those involved and extend our heart filled congratulations to all the winners!  

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Ladies Day breakfast 2012 was a rather different affair this year as we focused on supporting the Arts. We chose a small venue in Cape Town - The Stage Performing Arts School & Theatre. The inspiration behind opening the school comes from five talented women who decided to combine their expertise, love for the performing arts and theatre with the passion to share this knowledge and experience with aspiring young performers.       

Keeping with the Woman's Day theme, I must introduce you to the talented hands-on owner and head chef of La Feta Vij, Anneke Burger, who catered for our function - Anneke is not only a qualified Chef but she also studied Media and Communication as well as Tourism Management.

She treated us to some amazing treats and a sumptuous, eclectic selection of classic cuisine, innovatively rethought and freshly created.

Two young students from the Andrew Owen School of Art in Somerset West volunteered to assist us on the day by photographing the event. Both girls are currently in their second year studying photography, one specializing in design (all the posters of the event were her designs) and the other fine art - we wish them both a wonderful future.  

The ladies were all treated to a hysterical performance by two talented artists (Vanessa Harris and Ash Searle) I have no doubt we could all relate in some way to what the actors where portraying. Whether we are dealing with our partners, our children or our friends and colleagues, it's the small things that matter.

We were all meant to be extraordinary and we most certainly are!

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People development is crucial to the future of any business and we would like to congratulate, Helouna Labuschagne, Christelle Van Noordwyk and Ronel Van der Merwe on their new roles within JFH Hillebrand South Africa.

Ronel will be taking up the challenge of New Business Development - her main focus being to generate new business and establish the JFH brand as a market leader in the food Industry. Ronel realizes the task will not be an easy one but we believe she is up for the challenge and we wish her every success.

Her previous roll as Sales Executive will be filled by Helouna - Helouna has more than 10 years experience at JFH and she has been welcomed as a key member of the sales team - we believe her operations experience and her 100% dedication will be a real benefit to both the team and her customers - good luck in your new role Helouna - we have every confidence in your success.

Helouna's previous position as Team Leader for Continental Europe will be filled by Christelle - Christelle will make a wonderful leader and we are confident she has the qualities needed to be a success in whatever she puts her mind too!

This year's Cape Argus saw us ride for the first time in our very own JF Hillebrand cycling shirts, BUT the Cape Argus 2013 will see us riding with a difference.  JF Hillebrand will have their own charity team riding in full colour, raising funds for the Pebbles Project.   Pebbles and JF Hillebrand's relationship goes back a long way, and it's been our pleasure supporting this worthy cause and to help put back the smiles on the children's faces!

Not only will we have some enthusiastic and slightly crazy staff from our office and warehouse in the team, but we will also have staff from our overseas offices joining us as well.  To add the cherry to the cake, requests have come in from our clients wanting to know where they could sign up with our team...news travels fast!

We therefore decided to open the entries to ALL our clients, 'cause after all it is thanks to you that we can do what we love doing, moving the wine industry!

Although we have our team registered and we can still add more people, in the end it is up to the Argus organizers to limit the number of people in the charity category, so space is limited.  Therefore please let us know as soon as possible if you'd like to join our team!

Please don't hesitate to contact us should you want any further information - we're looking forward to hearing from you and it will be our pleasure having you join THE dream team...Argus 2013 here we come!

A bit more on the Pebbles Project:

The Pebbles Project purpose is to enrich the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds with special educational needs, especially those whose lives are affected by alcohol, through providing support and training to local wine farm and township cr�ches and establishing after-school provision for older children living in the Winelands.

We are currently impacting on the lives of over 700 children, and have trained over 53 staff.  Our work supports children, teenagers, parents and wider communities in the Somerset West, Stellenbosch and Paarl areas of the Western Cape.

Please also see: www.pebblesproject.co.za

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Members of the JFH South Africa team were invited to attend the Accolade Wines Growers, Producers and services day in August. The day was extremely informative and well organized and we would like to thank the team of Accolade Wines for hosting us.

We would also like to thank you for awarding us your Service Excellence Award for 2012 - we are extremely proud to be associated with the Accolade team.

Petro Marais (AW); Karen Dippenaar (JFH); Leone Meuwesen(AW); Steven Watson(JFH)

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The COP 17 conference held in Durban at the end of last year managed to achieve what many thought impossible. Breathing new life into the Kyoto Protocol and obliging signatory countries to agree to new targets for reducing greenhouse gases by the year 2015, while not the silver bullet cure for our climate woes is a purposeful step in the right direction. This positive outcome helps to increase the value attributed to carbon reductions and will lead to increased investment in low carbon renewable energy technologies.

EcoMetrix Africa played a prominent role during this time in Durban, co-hosting a very successful three day workshop facilitating clean energy business networking between Dutch and African organizations. On the panel with EcoMetrix Africa were Mark Bodley, CEO of IQuad Integrated Management Systems, SANEC (SA-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce), the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) and others. The discussion focused on financing mechanisms for renewable and green energy projects and the pitfalls encountered by project developers seeking finance; applicable also for the wine industry!

The topic of climate change and energy efficiency has never been higher on South Africa's corporate agenda. Companies are having to actively address the environmental impact of their activities in order to limit their exposure to energy cost increases and potential carbon taxes. The management of greenhouse gas emissions often referred to as carbon, now forms an important part of business sustainability and as a consequence significantly increases the importance to organisations of Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Energy Management (the new ISO 50001) to manage and continuously improve their environmental impact.

The economic downturn of the past few years has played a big part in Eskom's ability to keep our lights on. But electricity demand is clearly forecasted to rise in 2012 according to Eskom. Reducing energy demand and therefore lowering your carbon footprint will directly and positively influence your bottom line as energy prices rise year on year. Reeling in unnecessary electricity consumption and other energy costs is now making profound business sense.

IQuad IMS, with the help of GreenerFuture and EcoMetrix Africa are actively engaging with clients on how best to control their influence on climate change and achieving reduction and mitigation solutions that create strategic, sustainable and economic value for their business. They are currently assessing the shift and reduction in the carbon footprint of a major multinational moving to Menlyn Maine, Africa's newest, greenest most energy efficient haven. This spectacular green precinct development is part of the Clinton Climate Initiative and aims to be carbon positive, relying on cutting edge innovation and state of the art technology.  For more information please contact the author: Mark Bodley at [email protected] or Tel 27 41 583 5703.

South Africa: Revised Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes of Good Practice

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says that the Revised Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes of Good Practice will enhance the implementation of B-BBEE in a meaningful and sustainable manner. He added that the revised B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice 2012 contain principles and guidelines that will also facilitate and accelerate the implementation of B-BBEE.

The purpose of the Codes is to assist and advise the public and private sectors in the implementation of the B-BBEE Act.

The Cabinet has approved the revised B-BBEE codes of good practice that are expected to enhance the implementation of B-BBEE in a meaningful and sustainable manner.   The public will have 60 days to comment once the codes have been officially gazetted by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The purpose of these codes is to guide the public and private sectors through the implementation of the B-BBEE Act.

Key alterations include:

• The generic scorecard has been reduced to five elements, with Employment Equity and Management Control being consolidated, and Preferential Procurement and Enterprise Development merged to form a Supplier Development Element;
• The points for Ownership have been broadened to include designated groups in the main points;
• Thresholds for Exempted Micro Enterprises (EMEs) and Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) have been adjusted;
• All companies, except Exempted Micro Enterprises, will be required to comply with the five elements of the B-BBEE scorecard;
• The introduction of the priority elements: ownership, skills development and supplier development. Large enterprises are to comply with all three priority elements. The priority scores of entities that do not comply with sub-minimum requirements in each priority will be discounted;
• Entities that are 100% black-owned will qualify as Level 1,
• Entities that are more than 50% black-owned will qualify as Level 2;
• Updated framework for the accreditation of B-BBEE Verification Agencies to include the Independent Regulatory Body of Auditors;
• Skills Development Elements have been aligned to the New Skills Development Strategy and are to be outward focused; and
• Qualifying Small Enterprises must comply with all five elements on the scorecard.