Despite Africa taking over as the leading destination for exports from the Western Cape, the traditional export markets in Europe - mainly the UK, the Netherlands and Germany - remain important sources of foreign exchange reserves. The UK imported R1.5 billion worth of wine, R1.2 billion of apples and pears, as well as R4.8 billion of citrus from the Western Cape in 2015.

The UK accounts for 35% of South Africa’s bulk wine exports to the EU market, 38% of bottled wine exports and 24% of all sparkling wine exports. This is set to increase further due to growth in South Africa’s wine quota to the entire EU.

Wine and olive oil production will come into the spotlight at the newly-launched Wine and Olive Oil Production Expo taking place alongside the acclaimed Propak Cape exhibition. A range of the latest equipment, machinery, products and services will be on show from leading manufacturers and suppliers to wine farms and olive oil producers. Visitors will have the opportunity to interact with top industry experts and gain invaluable industry insight.

Many wine farms have diversified into other products, with olive oil being popular as some of the equipment and machinery used in the production of wine can also be used for producing olive oil. This brings additional benefit to farmers as olive trees require little water and need hot conditions to grow, which is ideal in the local climate conditions.

The region has suffered the worst drought in over 100 years with abnormally hot weather decreasing wine crop yields by 6,7% in 2015. These challenges will encourage wine farmers to diversify even further into crops for the hotter drier climate.

A series of free-to-attend seminars will add further value to the expo with discussion topics such as sustainability, lightweight packaging options for wine and olive oil, recycling, mechanisation and the use of technology in the wine making process, amongst others.

“Making the decision to locate the Wine and Olive Oil Production Expo alongside Propak Cape was due to the synergy of both exhibitions,” says Sven Riddle, Event Director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery. “Propak Cape will be showcasing a broad range of packaging, food processing, plastics, labelling and printing machinery and equipment. The Wine and Olive Oil production Expo will focus on the supply chain up to the point of packaging and machinery used for separation, filtration and ageing of wine.”

Propak Cape is organised by Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, a member of the prestigious Montgomery Group, one of the most widely respected exhibition companies in the world with trade shows, consumer shows and specialist projects currently spanning Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The Wine and Olive Oil Production Expo and Propak Cape 2017 will be taking place at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from 24-26 October 2017.

For more information, visit the website www.wineandolive.co.za or contact Keraysha Pillay at email: kerayshap@specialised.com