Griffith grape growers sat down with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to talk about some of their concerns about the wine industry.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The growers met with ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh at the Coro Club on Tuesday to talk about ways to improve competition between grape sellers and buyers.
Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board CEO Brian Simpson said the growers appreciated having their voices heard.
"The majority of growers I touch base with are quite concerned with how they're treated in the industry," Mr Simpson said.
"Having this watchdog for competition investigate and understand our markets gives us a lot of opportunity to have our say."
One of the problems discussed was the lack of regulation and transparency when it came to pricing, with some growers getting paid much less than others.
Another concern was a lack of bargaining power among growers, who said they often found themselves in a take-it-or-leave-it situation.
Some growers took issue with the length of payment terms, with a few having waited up to nine months before being fully paid for their grapes.
Despite these problems Mr Simpson, who is also a Griffith City Councillor, said he was optimistic about the overall state of the industry, which is expected to receive a major uplift.
"We're seeing better returns because of the market opportunities for wineries and the growing level of exports," he said.
"The industry is doing well but we can do things a lot better for all parties - not just the grape growers, but also the wineries who would benefit from better practices.
"Everyone wants their supply base to by happy, healthy, and stable."
The forum was part of an ACCC wine market study, which received about 300 responses from wine growing regions.
ACCC's Mick Keogh said it was a good opportunity to talk to Griffith growers on the ground about ways to improve market competitiveness.
"We've now got an insight into some of the issues that concern growers and the questions around whether the markets are working as well as it could," Mr Keogh said.
He said there were different problems in different grape growing regions, but some other recurring themes were the lack of consistency in grape grading, contracting practices, and dispute resolution.
Mr Keogh said the ACCC would take on board the feedback, but that more study needed to be done before deciding what actions should be taken.
"It's important to identify a problem, but you have to be careful because sometimes the fix is worse than the problem," he said.
"We need to make sure any new regulation doesn't disadvantage the industry rather than fix it."
The ACCC will talk separately with stakeholders from the wine maker side of the market as well as experts in the field.