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White Paper
A labour plan for Marlborough’s growing wine industry.
MARLBOROUGH’S WINE industry needs a set of core standards for employment, accommodation and pastoral care, according to a recently released White Paper.
The report looks at the opportunities and challenges associated with the wine sector’s growth over the next five years, including the need for more accommodation, suitable pastoral care and the development of the labour force.
Wine Marlborough General Manager Marcus Pickens says good labour practice and corporate responsibility are key to sustainable expansion, and he hopes a set of
White Paper work streams:
Workforce planning and development Establishing good employment practices Development of suitable accommodation Ensuring pastoral care needs are met or exceeded Adoption of socially responsible and sustainable practices Communications and engagement standards will become part of supplier agreements for Marlborough wine companies. “This White Paper is about planning for the sector’s growth over the next five years. Best practice and a good reputation are vital to enabling that growth.”
The paper is the work of a Labour Summit working group, which has representatives from Wine Marlborough, grape growers, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Marlborough District Council, Marlborough’s Primary Health Organisation and Splice Consulting.
The group was established after a Labour Summit in July last year, where attendees spoke of the need for cross sector collaboration to ensure Marlborough’s wine industry can meet its growing labour requirements. According to a Labour Survey released by Wine Marlborough early last year, the industry is set to grow by 6444 hectares by 2020, requiring a 24% increase in worker numbers.
Through its six work streams, the white paper looks at the need to attract school leavers, offer more training and career opportunities and relocate New Zealanders from other areas for seasonal work. Marcus says the group is also keen to see employers extending seasonal roles into permanent positions, in order to attract and retain employees.
It is hoped that each work stream will be led by relevant organisations, including the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce, the Primary Industry Training Organisation (ITO), NMIT, Master Contractors, WorkSafe and Police, as well as those bodies represented in the steering group.
In another attempt to improve labour practices, Wine Marlborough will supply its members with a chart to shed light on the necessary piece rate to meet the minimum wage. Marcus says the chart shows various rates multiplied by vine numbers, and can be used by growers as a guide to ensure workers are receiving their due. “It shows how many plants someone would have to do if this was the rate per vine, in order to hit minimum wage. We want to give information to the growers and remind them all growers have the obligation to work out how much workers on their property are achieving.”
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Top Marcs
Companies prepare for grape marc disposal this vintage.
NEW ZEALAND Winegrowers (NZW) is helping inform Marlborough wine companies about new grape marc regulations in the lead up to the 2017 vintage.
NZW Project Manager Tracy Benge says there was a fantastic turnout to a December meeting at the Marlborough Research Centre, aimed at clarifying new Marlborough District Council (MDC) regulations around grape marc, presenting different solutions currently employed by Marlborough wineries, and seeking member feedback.
“There are plenty of people doing great things with winery by-products. The reason there were so many people at the recent meeting was that there is a real interest in sustainable solutions, as part of a continuous improvement mindset.”
Representatives from Nautilus, Giesen and Wairau River Wines presented at the event, explaining their processes around grape marc and composting, including the costs and benefits of utilising the waste stream, says Tracy. “They each have a different way of using the resource, but all the wine companies that presented had the mind-set that marc is wealth not waste.”
Giesen Wines Senior Viticulturist and NZW Sustainability Committee member Mike Poff says there is a “definite growing interest” from the grape growing and winemaking community as to why and how to better utilise grape marc. The company is about to build a new 3500 cubic metre commercial composting facility that will be operational this vintage and will manage Giesen’s entire stream of grape marc. “We will have total control as a company. We see it firstly as part of what we do in our business now, to responsibly control this waste stream. And secondly we see the
Mike Poff with Giesen’s compost pile
Managing winery solid waste and leachate
1. Location is key. Suitable solid waste storage locations need to consider: • Distance from bores, surface water and depth to groundwater • Soil type, particularly if free-draining or defined as a
‘soil sensitive area’ • Scale of storage and capacity • Length of storage time 2. Leachate management: • Moisture content of solid waste in storage • Rain and run-off into solid waste storage • Covering of grape marc piles to reduce leachate • Impermeable storage surfaces/bunded pads • Adequate leachate collection 3. Rules around application of winery solids and liquid waste including: • Distance from bores, surface water and depth to groundwater • Distance from boundaries with neighbours • Soil type and topography • Nitrogen loading • pH levels • Discharge of concentrate leachate is not permitted 4. Managing Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) levels • Grape marc leachate can have very high BOD. This can affect groundwater by mobilising and leaching naturally occurring ground contaminants such as manganese and arsenic 5. Managing odour during storage, composting and turning • Distance from boundaries with neighbours: For more information email Compliance@marlborough. govt.nz or call 03 5207400. Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand guidelines • SWNZ members must provide council monitoring and compliance reports as part of the auditing process. • As part of SWNZ requirements, members must ensure consents are current, conditions met and abatement notices (if any) addressed. • If you use contractors to dispose of your grape marc, it is a requirement of the SWNZ programme that you ensure they are compliant. If grape marc goes off-site to stock food, compost or landfill, a letter must to be held confirming the disposal meets the resource consents or regional and district plans. If you have any queries please contact Tracy@nzwine.com, NZW Sustainability Project Manager.
greater benefit of composting grape marc and putting it back into your vineyards.”
His message to the NZW meeting was that grape marc is a valuable resource. “We have spent many years growing grapes in the valley and not enough people are paying enough attention to their soil and the condition of their soil. At the end of the day there’s a resource here which we should be using to rectify the thousands of tonnes of grapes - organic matter - we take off every year.”
Mike says there is no “silver bullet” solution, and the three wine companies that presented each used their marc differently to enhance the soil in their vineyards. “Everyone needs to think about their business and what the solution could possibly be as part of the continuous improvement of their business.”
In outlining the council’s regulations under the new proposed Marlborough Environment Plan, MDC Compliance Manager Gina Ferguson told the audience that companies needed to take a risk management approach to avoid adverse effects on the environment.
In 2016 there were an estimated 48,000 tonnes of grape marc produced from 323,290 tonnes of grapes processed in Marlborough. In isolated cases unsuitable storage locations and scale, and insufficient leachate containment, resulted in the contamination of waterways and drinking water supplies, as well as odour during composting and turning.
“With the lead up to vintage, now is a good time to ensure that marc operations are compliant,” says Tracy. Following December’s meeting, she sent Marlborough members a summary of the MDC and Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) guidelines, including information around the use of contractors.
In the medium to long term, the industry may consider revisiting previous grape marc value-stream proposals, Tracy says. In 2014, Marlborough wine producers collaborated with the MDC in forming the Marlborough Grape Marc (MGM) group to advance a proposal for an environmentally sustainable use of the wine industry’s waste streams.
It considered a proposal called Remarc, but ultimately followed up with the Australian-based Tarac Technologies, which proposed to extract alcohol from all the grape marc and residuals produced in Marlborough and convert the spent marc into compost and stock feed.
That project did not proceed on commercial grounds, but there was substantial interest at the meeting about looking at potential value streams in the future, says Tracy. “This pro-active approach to grape marc is an example of how New Zealand wine is continually looking to improve, enhancing our reputation as a world leader in sustainability.”
Optimum Selectiv’ Process Sorting now available for 2017 vintage.
