Cape Town - From a wine bottle recycler to a wine farmer, Malcolm Green is determined to take the wine industry by storm.
Green and his son Ricardo started a wine business in 2007, and trade under the labels Lerato Wine and La RicMal Supreme. The blended Lerato and single cultivar La RicMal Supreme wines are available in Shoprite and Shoprite Liquor shops in South Africa and beyond.
For 30 years, Green bought used wine bottles, cleaned them and resold them to wine producers.
“I owned four factories in the Western Cape and two in Gauteng. My company won numerous awards for, among others, job creation, so I was happy with my achievements. Ricardo was relentless and eventually convinced me to join him in this venture, so here I am today, not able to imagine doing anything else,” he said.
But the cost of entry into the wine industry was expensive, especially for start-up businesses, he said.
“The move from recycling to wine producing has been a positive change as wine is an agricultural sector, which is supported by the government, and the product has a greater demand and more retailers,” he said.
Their wines are produced from predominantly bush vines in Darling, but with their farm situated in Bottelary Road, they hope to sell their wine from it by 2021.
@Mtuzeli