Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

A Little Kiwi Birdie Told Me

By Susanne Kuehne
1 Comment
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis

Fraudulent New Zealand Wines being exported around the globe.

Food fraud, New Zealand wine
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database.
Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

New Zealand is known for its premier, high quality wine industry, enjoying a steady growth for the past several years. Even just one isolated case like the one reported here can hurt the reputation of an entire country’s wine industry. The Ministry of Primary Industries in New Zealand found that a large wine producer in New Zealand is responsible for falsely blending wines, as well as mislabeling the vintage and origin of the wines. The wines do not pose any health risks but due to the damaging nature to the New Zealand wine industry, this fraud is being punished by a hefty fine and other sentences.

Resources

  1. Radio New Zealand (March 13, 2020). “Wine fraud: Southern Boundary Wines fined $1.7m”.
  2. Shermand, E. (August 4, 2017). “New Zealand Winery Accused of Wine Fraud in Landmark Case“. Food & Wine.

About The Author

Susanne Kuehne, Decernis

Comments

  1. paul white

    What planet has this writer been living on? This news is months, if not years, old. NZ used to exclusively be a quality wine producer. Back in early 2000s only 5% was bulk export, now its above 35%. That is shipped over in massive rubber tanks to UK/EU factories where it is bottled under screw caps under a variety of ‘imaginary’ brands. What about quality control at that point? EU and US producers are disadvantaged in needing to be bottled at their estates to ensure strict quality control. NZ bulk wine destroys the economic viability of small family run producers. Economic viability under local control ensures local quality control. The fines issued to NZ producer were a small slap on the hands. Susanne you should/could have done a lot deeper digging than this fluffy journalism.

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