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The South African wine industry has been hit hard by bans of alcohol sales during various Covid-19 lockdowns, resulting in many producers going out of business. afp
South Africa’s wine industry reeling from alcohol bans
Tue, 9 February 2021
Drinkers in South Africa may cheer the government’s decision to lift the latest bar on alcohol sales, but the wine sector fears the move has come too late to save thousands of jobs.
The key industry has been badly hit by a string of booze bans, imposed to ease the number of trauma cases in hospitals burdened by coronavirus patients.
South Africa s wine industry reels from alcohol bans
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Industria del vino sudafricana tambalea por ley seca en pandemia: Millonarias pérdidas y sin espacio para almacenar
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The slowdown in wine consumption has left many producers with a storage headache.
The country is awash with more than 300 million litres (79 million gallons) of surplus wine at a time when workers are already in the fields to pick the current harvest.
Many vineyards lack the space for the grapes or the money to harvest, bottle and label for the 2021 season.
“Most sellers don’t have lots of space capacity in terms of tanks. And with the harvest starting now those tanks need to be ready to receive the 2021 harvest,” said Gerard Holden, owner of Holden Manz wine.
“You’re in a Catch-22,” he said.