Staying relevant with SWNZ
“The cost of sustainability is in the now. The cost of not doing anything is in the future,” says Tim Nowell-Usticke, founder and director of WineWorks and the new Chair of New Zealand Winegrowers’ Environment Committee.
In October this year, New Zealand Winegrowers will be holding an election for the five Member Class Directors on its Board, who are elected for a four-year term, on the basis of one vote per Member. The last Member Class Director Election was in 2020, and the terms of those five Directors also finish in October this year.
The Board’s role is to govern and provide strategic direction to New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW). As part of this, it directs the spending of your levy money, so it is important that you get involved. Nominations open soon – now is the time to think about who you would want to govern your national body, or whether you would want to yourself. Get involved!
Any Member may be nominated and, because of the Member Class voting system, every Member – large or small – will have an equal chance to influence who is elected for these positions. NZW hopes to see a diverse range of talented candidates standing across gender, ethnicity, age, regions and industry roles.
Who may stand as a candidate?
To be nominated as a candidate, a person must be appointed by any NZW Member to exercise their voting rights (ie a Member Representative). In addition, they must not be disqualified under the Rules of NZW or law, or currently declared bankrupt.
What is the commitment required to be on the Board?
The Board usually meets six times a year for around a day and each Director is also expected to serve on two Board Committees. The most important requirements of candidates are that they care about the future of the industry and are prepared to contribute their skills, experience and perspectives. Directors are expected to work in an open-minded way with the other Directors for the benefit of the whole industry, not their particular interests.
What are the next steps?
Any Member of NZW may nominate a candidate from 5 August to 6 September. Detailed information on the nomination process will be sent directly to Members on 2 August (and, from that date, can be found on the regularly updated dedicated webpage on the NZW Members website, under ‘About Us’ then ‘Governance’).
Key Election Dates 2024
Detailed nomination information sent to members - Friday 2 August
Nominations open - Monday 5 August
Nominations close - Friday 6 September
Members advised of candidates - Monday 23 September
Voting opens - Monday 7 October
Voting closes and results announced - Friday 18 October
New Levy Rates for 2024/25
On 26 June 2024, the New Zealand Winegrowers Board set the following levy rates for the year 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.
Wine levy - The levy rate to apply to sales of grape wine is 3.12 cents plus GST per litre.
Grape levy - The levy rate on winegrapes from Vintage 2025 is to be set at the rate of 0.935% as follows:
- if sold by or on behalf of the grower, 0.935% of the farm-gate price plus GST;
- if exported by or on behalf of the grower, 0.935% of the free on-board value plus GST;
- if made into grape juice or grape juice concentrate, 0.935% of the notional price of the grapes plus GST.
In the case of (c), the notional price for the year 2025 vintage has been set as 75% quartile for the region and variety concerned as determined from the 2024 vintage as listed in the last published version of the New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) grape price data for that vintage.
These rates are set by NZW pursuant to clause 9(1) of the Wine (Grape Wine Levy) Order 2022 and clause 11(1) of the Commodity Levies (Winegrapes) Order 2022.
If you have any questions, please contact our Advocacy team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
