Last week’s Cape Wine 2025 saw Wines of South Africa (WoSA) unveil a bold new global brand identity which positions the industry as ‘vibrant, resilient and bursting with optimism’.
As Cape Wine 2025 came to a close, WoSA signed off another successful show by toasting a new fresh positioning for South African wine, centred on emotion and optimism rather than solely diversity and sustainability messaging.
Under the tagline ‘There’s Sunshine Inside’, the new identity and logo highlights the country’s abundant sunshine and diverse terroirs, alongside South African’s wines which deliver bold fruit, crisp acidity and sense of place.
Speaking to Drinks Retailing on Thursday (11 September), show boss Siobhan Thompson said: “Our new positioning is really about the optimism of who we are as a nation – the passion and joy that goes into our wine. We have 300 days of sun a year in South Africa. It’s about the sunshine inside everything, about resilience and warmth.”
Thompson described the three-day trade fair as a showcase for the “optimism of who we are” and a critical moment for the industry’s future trajectory.
“Cape Wine was created as a platform for exporters to express themselves to the international world, but also to bring producers here to experience the Cape Winelands. It’s just grown and grown – from around 100 producers at the first show to over 400 today – and has become as much about connecting with local trade as with the global market,” she said.
Economic sustainability is now widely seen as the third essential pillar, alongside social and environmental responsibility, for South Africa. This priority is now being advanced through industry wide initiatives such as WIETA (Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association), the IPW (Integrated Production of Wine) certification, and biodiversity champion programmes – all designed to drive ethical, audited practices from soil management to worker welfare.
“Education is key,” Thompson said. “Whether it’s early childhood development through projects like Pebbles, or pruning courses for vineyard workers, we have to foster people of colour, develop black-owned brands and create a more balanced industry.”
A statutory levy ensures that 20% of funds collected from every litre of wine exported is channelled into transformation initiatives to support black-owned enterprises, training and market access.
“You just have to walk around this floor and see how people are working in collectives to see how far we’ve come,” Thompson said.
Marketing Shift: ‘The Sunshine Inside’
The new logo and campaign imagery – featuring a stylised protea and sunrise – will roll out across international markets later this year, aiming to give the industry a unified voice and help grow the crucial mid-tier wine category.
“We’ve always been strong at entry level and good at super-premium, but we need to grow that middle tier. We’ve got the wine – now we need to secure the shelf space and move consumers up the ladder,” Thompson said.
In a sign of rising political support, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture attended the opening address of Cape Wine – a first for the show.
“This is a huge positive signal for agriculture, which is critical to the Western Cape economy and makes up a major share of our exports,” Thompson said.
She noted that the country’s Government of National Unity is beginning to deliver change through greater accountability and stronger opposition.
“The more people challenge things, the more the changes will happen. I’m super positive about the quality of wines we’re putting out there and the innovation happening across the industry,” Thompson said.
The new WoSA Brand Video to see the concept come to life is available to watch here.
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