NOVEMBER 2011
CELEBRATING 131 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
VOLUME 61 NUMBER 11
Rethink, restructure, rebrand How a grape vine propagator is standing on the shoulders of tradition KAREN DAVIDSON It takes more than a can of paint to rebrand a business. Wes and Briar Wiens, relative newcomers to propagating grape vines, have rethought and restructured the Gemmrich W. Nursery that they bought in 2004. They offer innovative services, scour the world for new vines and employ information technology. That’s why they’re so confident in announcing VineTech Canada this month, because the new entity already delivers on the promise of the name. Born into a grape-growing family, Wes Wiens didn’t plan to be so involved in the legacy of his forebears. He was operating an on-farm fabrication and repair shop when the opportunity arose to acquire the nursery. The uniqueness of this niche made a compelling business case for a change in career. “For me, it was one thing to manage a vineyard,” says Wiens, “ but quite another to propagate vines,” as he surveys their 70 acres with 37 varieties of clones and rootstock. Since then, they have almost doubled sales from their Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario nursery to British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Quebec. The exacting work requires as many as 40 labourers for budwood collection, rootstock processing and grafting at peak season.
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How did they build the business so fast, for a rebranding in seven years? First, innovation. Custom grafting, for instance, is growing in demand to the extent that it now represents 10 per cent of their business. Customers may want to clone a specific block to continue traits that are winning awards. To maintain the integrity of those grapevines, custom grafting can replicate those traits. Also innovative is overgrafting which takes a mature Chardonnay vineyard, for example, and transforms it into Pinot Gris. “It hasn’t been done to any great success here in Canada but we’re experimenting with local wineries to develop a Canadian protocol,” says Wiens. All of these techniques play to Wiens’ desire for an internationally recognized certification system for grape vines in Canada. Working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and growers’ organizations across Canada, he is lobbying with the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network for a higher level of assurance that grape stock is free of disease. These phytosanitary standards would stand them in good stead for exporting to the United States and beyond. Roots and wings The second major thrust to reinventing the business is ongoing research. “The industry has a lot to learn from other grapegrowing areas, so as a team we have traveled to places such as France, Germany, Australia and South Africa,” says Wiens. “From these experiences our management team has brought new ideas, products, practices and technology to our operation, which has allowed us to be leaders in providing consistent quality both in our products and services.” Wes and his wife Briar also travel together to trade shows to research the market and cement relationships with customers. It’s not easy with four small children under the age of eight, but these working travels serve as sounding boards for the business. Briar can assess potential prospects and connect the dots with the home enterprise. Closer to home, they also manage trials in collaboration with Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Brock
Wes and Briar Wiens toast a number of accomplishments in their Niagara-on-the-Lake vineyard. Since 2004, they have nearly doubled their grapevine propagation business. Thanks to a nomination by the Grape Growers of Ontario, they earned Ontario’s honour as Outstanding Young Farmers in 2011. In mid-November, they compete nationally in Brandon, Manitoba. Photos by Denis Cahill.
University and Niagara College. The latest project, with Brock, involved carbohydrate analysis of vine material throughout various stages of the propagation process. They hope to better understand and assess vineyard quality as it relates to grafting material. Tech tools Thirdly, they attribute their achievements to the innovative use of technology. “In agriculture, success can be unique, in that you have to be resilient, work with
Mother Nature and respond to government regulatory changes,” says Wiens. “Today, we have more technology tools to elevate our business financially and to react more nimbly.” For instance, what used to be a major hiccup in the day – even something simple, such as a flat tire in the field – is now solved quickly with a cell phone call rather than a stranded employee walking back to base. But it’s GPS-guided equipment that has revolutionized this labour-intensive business. Three jobs can be
done at once with cultivating, spraying and hedging. Multiply that efficiency by doing three rows at once. This saves time, fuel and maintenance while also allowing more timely application in narrow weather windows. This narrative made Wes and Briar Wiens winners of the provincial Outstanding Young Farmer competition in 2011, a well-known program open to farm operators aged 18 to 39 who derive at least two-thirds of their income from the farm. Continued on page 3