Media Release
15 August 2024
New Zealand Winegrowers welcomes the new Special Purpose Work Visa (SPWV) for seasonal workers announced by the government. This will provide confidence and certainty for wineries to access the experienced seasonal international workers they need for the 2025 grape and wine harvest.
New Zealand Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan says “Each year our wineries need to lift the capacity of their workforce for a short period of time during harvest. Our first priority is to employ New Zealanders but there is always a gap which we need to fill from offshore. Without these international staff we would not be able to manage the intake of all the grapes from more than 42,000 hectares of vineyards across New Zealand.’
‘This initiative will be warmly welcomed by wineries. The creation of the SPWV pathway recognises the importance of international workers filling short-term peak seasonal roles that are not intended to be permanent.’
‘We support the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) settings being recalibrated to balance the integrity of the immigration system, the opportunity of New Zealanders to gain work, and to enable employers to source the workers they need, when they need them.
The previous AEWV settings did not deliver for the wine industry for these peak seasonal wine roles. We thank the Minister for responding positively and in a timely way to the concerns we raised about existing visa settings.’
‘These changes will make a difference and are very welcome.”
Editors notes:
- Every year wineries require additional staff, called wine cellar hands, to supplement the permanent winemaking teams.
- They are required for vintage, which lasts anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks, from February to May depending on the wine region.
- In 2023 there were 314 wine cellar hands approved under AEWV for vintage 2024
- New Zealand wine exports are in excess of $2 billion per annum
- New Zealand wine employs 7,000 New Zealanders
New Zealand Winegrower images can be found here.
For further information contact:
Chrissy Powlesland
Communications Manager, New Zealand Winegrowers
chrissy.powlesland@nzwine.com
Philip Gregan
CEO, New Zealand Winegrowers
philip@nzwine.com, 021 964 56