A while ago I was enticed to join the wine industry and the bait on this hook was enabling the concept of foresight in the wine industry.

In Afrikaans there is a saying “So wyd as die Heer se genade” loosely translated ” As wide as Gods Grace” and this applies to what is meant by foresight.

Every day when we drive a vehicle walk down the street, jog etc we apply the innate skill of foresight. Without it we would run into poles (faulty foresight) have accidents etc. Mostly the term foresight determines how we proceed in life or go forward. Having said that I can not but help to think that foresight has a large element of prediction in it and the more we drive run etc the more we develop this predictive talent.

So why is foresight important in the wine (or for that matter any other) industry?

Well wine, especially South African wine is very niche orientated, as we have very limited wine producing resources. However 350 years of wine making experience provides a rich heritage and experience in wine making. But as all things the more they change the more they stay the same and current systems are in dire need to be upgraded.

Consider that there is an ever evolving market to sell wine products to and yes wine now competes in restaurants and elsewhere with the likes of Coca Cola and even water for that matter. Tastes change and new styles of wine are required to satisfy and increasingly more demanding and in other instances “dumb” demand.

The cost of establishing new vineyards (the place where grapes are grown for wine making purposes) is very high and the pay back on this investment long term (It takes on average at three years for a vineyard to get up to acceptable minimum production standards)

Couple the high cost of investment, increasingly competitive environment and there now exists a case for the element of foresight or predictive development or movement (hopefully forward or upward)

So I love the position I am in, as it seems my whole life long I have been training for this event and here is the thing I have learned, foresight is nothing without communal collaboration.

Any1 out there want to collaborate on foresight in the wine industry?