How this SA retailer is supporting the struggling local wine industry

A new exclusive wine label hits Checkers and Shoprite shelves soon, called “Elephant’s Cousin”. The launch of this range of wines is an initiative by the retailer to help South Africa’s wine industry, which suffered enormously during the multiple alcohol bans as part of the country’s nationwide lockdown regulations.

The South African wine industry employs 350,000 people and contributes almost R10 billion to the local economy. In October 2020, Checkers launched its ‘Pour it for your country’ campaign to voice its support for local wine producers.

If you want to know how much money was lost and what the industry had to face, check out this incredible infographic on our sister site, Eat Out. Vinpro said that there would be 250 to 300 million litres of surplus wine as a result and that an estimated 21,000 people would love their jobs.

Shoprite and Checkers has purchased more than 1.5 million litres of wine from South African farms since the start of lockdown to help ease the burden brought on by the pandemic. The move will help wine farms move surplus stock more rapidly – without a route to market, the knock-on effect of this unsold excess will be devastating for the industry.

Much like the supermarket’s popular Odd Bins range, the exact origin of the Elephant’s Cousin wine is kept secret to ensure it remains both affordable and accessible, and the limited label will exist only for as long as there are large quantities of surplus wine available. It will be available in Checkers supermarkets as well as Shoprite and Checkers LiquorShops in the following weeks.