Port producers ‘need to work in a cooperative way’

Producers in the Douro need to work more cooperatively to guarantee their future, according to Gonzalo Pedrosa, CEO at Sogevinus.

Gonzalo Pedrosa, CEO, Sogevinus

“In the Douro we need to work in a cooperative way; we need to work together,” he stated during a discussion with the drinks business earlier this year when considering the health of the Portuguese region, which is famous for its fortified wines, but increasingly its table wines too.

Drawing a comparison with the car industry – Pedrosa spent 17 years working for a range of automotive companies – he said that he had been on the board of “Auto Cluster”, which was formed 30 years ago to unite car makers to save the sector.

“We risked disappearing because we were too complacent, so we started working together,” said Pedrosa about the automotive industry in the 80s, before commenting, “and something needs to happen in the Douro because we are too comfortable with the way things are, but the past never guarantees the future”.

Continuing, he told db that Douro producers “need to work together to improve production because I think in the next 10 years we [the region] will lose 1 million cases, but instead of accepting that, why don’t we think of a way to increase production by 1m cases, and think about what we need to do to achieve this – maybe we need to form an institution to join together producers in a special way?”

He then pointed out that including Port, the Douro is the fourth biggest wine producing region in Portugal, behind Alentejo, Vinho Verde and Dao, whereas the Douro should be one of the largest in output.

“The Douro is the fourth biggest for sales in Portugal, but it is an amazing place with amazing conditions, so something is wrong,” he stated.

Pedrosa was appointed CEO at Sogevinus in November 2011, having managed a real estate company that was part-owned by Galician bank Caixanova, which also owned Sogevinus – which itself is an umbrella organisation comprising Barros, Calem, Kopke and Burmester Port brands, and the fifth biggest Port house, with an annual turnover of €40 million.

However, Spain’s Caixanova was bought by Venezuelan bank Banesco outright in 2013.

Pedrosa told db that Banesco is owned by Venezuala’s Juan Carlos Escotet, who has no intention of selling the Port business (despite rumours in the Douro to the contrary).

“I have two meetings a year with the owner of the bank and I can assure you that he is very proud of Sogevinus and he is supporting us – in fact he says, ‘I bought a bank and inside I found a treasure’, because we are profitable with good cash flow” recorded Pedrosa.