Samuel Kurtz, Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, has highlighted the success of Pembrokeshire’s award-winning Velfrey Vineyard in the Senedd as they compete in the ‘Best Food and Drink’ category of the Countryside Alliance Awards.
Andy Mounsey, owner of Velfrey Vineyard and Chair of the Welsh Vineyards Association, which represents winemakers across Wales, has voiced concerns about the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Wales. The proposed scheme, which breaks from the rest of the UK by including glass, poses challenges for Welsh drink producers, including winemakers.
Speaking about the inclusion of glass and its effect on winemakers like Velfrey Vineyard, Andy said:
“The inclusion of glass within the DRS would have a chilling effect on the growth of the Welsh vineyards sector. All vineyards in Wales are small, family-run businesses – many are very newly established and it is several years until they will be able to turn a profit.
“They don’t have the time or the resources to implement a complicated scheme, and associated costs would have a disproportionate impact on their bottom line. A survey conducted by the Welsh Vineyards Association found that ALL of the customers responding said that they already return their bottles for recycling or reuse. So the cost, complexity and concern caused by the inclusion of glass can have no upside, as it is impossible to improve on 100%.
“DRS operating differently on either side of the border would add to the complication and make Welsh vineyards less competitive than their English counterparts. Finally, the pressure inside a bottle of traditional method sparkling wine is such that reuse is not considered safe. We would urge Welsh Government to consider removing glass altogether from the DRS, or at least ensuring that all Welsh wine production is exempted.”
Samuel Kurtz, who raised this issue in the Senedd, added:
“It is totally unacceptable for the Welsh Labour Government to add all of this extra cost and bureaucracy to our winemakers, as well as to other small drink producers in Wales.
“Not even the UK Labour Government is going down this path, for the obvious reason that it is costly and won’t make much of an impact, as we already have excellent recycling rates for glass.
“By ignoring these calls, the Welsh Labour are basically telling Welsh vineyards to put a cork in it and that is unacceptable.”
