ACCC commences market study into wine grape industry

The ACCC has announced it will be conducting a market study into the wine grape industry. The study will examine competition, contracting practices, transparency and risk allocation issues in the wine grape supply chain.

The study is a result of concerns raised by wine grape growers about a range of competition issues and contracting practices.

The ACCC has released an issues paper and are seeking submissions from people involved in the industry on:

• the level of competition between purchasers of wine grapes
• bargaining power and risk allocation across the entire supply chain, particularly in relation to growers and winemakers
• issues around price transparency and quality assessment
• the nature of contracts between growers and winemakers (including the timing of price notifications and payments)
• the effect of the existing voluntary industry Code and dispute resolution processes
• the use of collective bargaining by growers.

They are keen to hear from anyone involved in the industry who has information relevant to this study. The deadline for submissions is 2 November 2018.

The ACCC will be holding public forums in wine grape growing areas to hear directly from interested stakeholders. Details will be announced on our website soon.

For the results of the ACCC survey, conducted in July and August 2018, please visit: Grape growers survey​.

​If you would like to make a submission, visit the ACCC website for more details - https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/market-studies/wine-grape-market-study/issues-paper​