Australia has a long history of exporting wine, dating back to 1822 when the first bottle of Australian wine was exported to London.
Today, almost 60% of all Australian wine is exported and more than 15.5 million glasses are enjoyed around the world every day, according to Wine Australia.
The benefits of exporting wine are clear, from increasing profit to minimising risks through diversification. More than 1,200 Australian wine businesses are making the most of the global industry.
However, exporting does not come without its challenges and risks. Funding growth is one of the biggest challenges that businesses in the sector face, and knowing where and how additional finance might support your business could be the difference between winning a global contract or missing out.
Australian wine in the global market
Bec Hardy Wines is a family-owned business based in McLaren Vale. It is operated by sixthgeneration South Australian vigneron and winemaker Bec Hardy and her husband, Richard Dolan, the business’s Director of Sales and Marketing.
During a period of change and growth for the business, Bec and Richard decided to expand into the US market to help diversify their export plan.
“Serendipitously, we came across a broker who wanted to work with us and who had good connections into Costco,” explained Richard.
“At the same time, we received another significant 400,000 bottle opportunity for an online retailer in Australia.”
Bec Hardy Wines needed finance to support the increase in inventory required to take on both the international and domestic opportunities.
At Export Finance Australia, we have a range of finance solutions to meet the unique needs and challenges businesses in the wine sector face when exporting. Whether that finance is to cover costs associated with market development, grape payments, bulk wine purchases or bottling and packaging, we're here to help.
We provided Bec Hardy Wines with the finance it needed to fund its inventory and take on three highly profitable US contracts while also delivering on its Australia-based contract.
“Without the finance from Export Finance Australia, those profitable opportunities just would not have happened – it's as simple as that,” Richard said.
“We would have been forced to choose between one profitable domestic transaction or three profitable export transactions.”
Bec highlighted that our team has played an important role in supporting Bec Hardy Wines’ global expansion.
“The team at Export Finance Australia have been instrumental in assisting our growth into new export markets,” she said.
“They have been incredibly helpful from the outset and have shown a genuine interest in our success.”
Finance to share Australian wine with the world
Bec Hardy Wines is just one of the wine businesses that we have supported to grow globally since 2019.
From the 2018-19 financial year up to March 2024, we helped enable export contracts valued at $51.44 million. This included support to vineyards, winemakers and wine wholesalers.
The wine industry’s long payment cycles coupled with additional cash flow demands linked to international trade (such as shipping, global marketing and foreign exchange fluctuations) can strain working capital.
Having additional finance available when it’s needed can mean the difference between being able to quickly seize new opportunities as they come and needing to slow down your global expansion.
To support your export plans or help realise your goals of building an internationally recognised brand, consider how finance could support your business at various stages of its production cycle, such as:
- harvesting
- purchasing bulk grapes, bottles, labels, or packaging
- bottling, labelling, and packing your wines for export
- shipping your products to international markets
- building up inventory to meet international demands
From the Barossa Valley to Margaret River, whether your business is selling grapes to a winemaker that exports its final products or you’re ageing a collection of red wines to fulfil an international order, our range of finance solutions could be what your business needs to reach its next level of growth.
Discover how we have supported more wine businesses across Australia to harvest global growth and build their brand globally.
Visit www.exportfinance.gov.au/wine to learn more.
If you would like to discuss your options with one of our export finance specialists, you can call us on 1800 093 724
