Crisis at Stormhoek Vineyards
The previous post came from reading two Stormhoek blogs and trying to make sense of what the Brits were doing. As Hugh MacLeod is fond of saying:
Are the sellers of Stormhoek wines involved in something slippery? A company that appears to comprise middlemen and marketeers says:
Stormhoek, the business, was bought a few weeks ago by our long time bottler, Origin Wines. And, despite all our very best efforts, we seem to be unable to come to terms with our partner Graham, at the vineyard.
The vintner (the people who grow the grapes and make the wine) says:
Thousands of South Africans have been hurt by the collapse of Orbital Wines in the UK. These are people who do not have the opportunity to fight back.
When the crunch came in December 2024, R6 million ($800 000) was owed to South African suppliers. The list of unpaids includes the Stormhoek vineyard, the Stormhoek home cellar and in particular, the whole out-sourcing network (label printers, transporters, too many to mention).
One thing about bankruptcies. The money is lost.
South Africa’s wine industry is not rich. Household income, averaged out across every employee: boss, labourer, supervisor, receptionist, driver, manager, foreman, all of them, is less than R2500 per month.
Who are the owners of “Orbital Wines?” Who are the owners of “Origin Wines?” What were the terms of the sale? Who bought the goodwill that went with the brand Stormhoek, who did they buy it from, was it theirs to sell, and how was it valued?
I’ll assign Listics ace reporter, Scoop Fisker, and try to get this thing sorted out. (A single consonant does not imply a shameless rip-off of the reputation of the esteemed Scoop Nisker and you should be ashamed of yourself for going there. But it would be great if we could afford to get two Scoops on the job! Also, it would be great to bring in Robert Fisk, but our budget is limited for this story. I’ve sent an IM to Scoop Fisker about this but I’m afraid he’s under a table at SXSW somewhere. More tomorrow…)
Technorati Tags: marketing, Hugh MacLeod, Stormhoek, branded, bitter creek, alpine texas
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