Business Economics

Description

Mandate: To strengthen the economic and operational foundation of the BC wine grape industry by enhancing business capacity, risk management, and financial sustainability through innovation and supportive services.

Goal Statement: By 2027, the BC wine grape industry will operate on stronger economic foundations supported by scalable business models, practical financial tools, and targeted operational supports. Producers of all sizes will have access to benchmarks, cooperative services, and precision technologies that reduce costs and improve margins. A revitalized extension system will ensure research is quickly translated into practice, while improved access to financing, risk management, and regulatory flexibility will enhance resilience. Collectively, these actions will position the sector to be profitable, adaptable, and economically sustainable for the long term.

Working Group Members:

Dapinder Gill, Dirty Laundry Vineyards (Advisory Committee Liaison)
Charlie Baessler, Corcelettes Estate Winery
David Paterson, Tantalus Vineyards
Craig McDonald, Andrew Peller Ltd.
Lee Cartier, Okanagan College
Johannus Janmaat, UBC
Brenda Hetman, 40 Knots Winery
Geoff McIntyre, MNP
Sam Stringer, French Door Winery

While our working group membership is currently full, if you are interested in joining the Working Group Community, please contact Lindsay Kelm at [email protected]. Community Members will receive early updates, be invited to provide feedback on draft ideas, and help guide the group’s direction through ongoing engagement.

Strategic Priorities

Business Performance & Innovation

SP1: We must support businesses in optimizing current vineyard and winery operations by establishing meaningful financial and economic benchmarking metrics at both the vineyard and winery level. We will track labour efficiency (vineyard vs. cellar, domestic vs. TFW programs), cost of goods, operating costs, and margins and guide continuous improvement and peer comparison.

SP2: We must equip businesses to make strategic, forward-looking growth decisions by creating clear, data-driven benchmarks that define and clarify economies of scale. We will map production thresholds and operational requirements at each growth stage, understand cost structures (e.g., mobile bottling vs. in-house lines) and capital intensity, and determine the ‘tipping points’ where investment drives efficiency.

SP3: We must accelerate adoption of precision viticulture and innovation by demonstrating ROI on technology investments, ensuring scalability for small producers, and integrating sustainability and environmental considerations.

SP4: We must strengthen business management and decision-making by equipping producers, both growers and wineries, with practical tools, mentorship, and training in financial literacy, operational planning, and business risk management, enabling them to effectively interpret benchmarking data (SP1 & SP2) and adopt precision viticulture and innovation (SP3) in their operations.

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

SP5: We must explore the opportunity of shared services and cooperative business models by determining the feasibility of, and piloting initiatives such as pooled purchasing (bottles, labels, packaging), coordinated logistics, and labour solutions, while developing cost-sharing and liability frameworks that respect regional realities.

SP6: We must scope a business and funding model to support an industry-led extension service that connects research with practice, ensuring the delivery of practical, timely and open knowledge transfer that’s aligned with the operational realities of growers and wineries, while also aligning with federal/provincial extension program cycles.

SP7: We must work towards improving businesses’ resilience to operational and market risks by supporting access to and adoption of risk mitigation and management tools (including the Ministry of Agriculture & Food’s Agriculture Insurance and Income Protection Programs), through collaboration between government and industry.

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