Who or what does the organization report to?

WGBC is governed by a Board of Directors that is reflective of best practices in modern corporate governance. The Board consists of nine elected voting winery members and two non-voting ex officio members who oversee the work of the President & CEO (who manages the WGBC), and who provides strategic guidance and effective oversight for the organization and industry. The Board ensures that appropriate systems of governance, leadership, and stewardship are in place to enable WGBC’s President & CEO to manage and lead the organization effectively.

See BOD Features https://winebc.com/industry/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/BOD-Key-Features.pdf

Mandatory/Regulatory or Voluntary/Non-Regulatory

Voluntary/Non-Regulatory

Summary

As the peak organization for the BC wine industry, our mission is to represent the interests of the British Columbia wineries dedicated to producing 100% British Columbia grape wines certified by the regulatory body for wine in British Columbia, through marketing, communications, and advocacy of their products to all stakeholders.

Our Vision: British Columbia is recognized as one of the world’s premium wine regions.

What does the organization regulate or is in charge of with respect to vineyards/wineries

As the unified BC Wine Industry Representation and Voice: Through collaboration amongst industry stakeholders, groups and organizations, Wine Growers British Columbia is the peak BC wine industry contact, source and voice in providing direction, coordination, and alignment of industry and government resources and efforts including research, analysis, policy recommendations, and advocacy.

Advocate for and Continue to Support: Policies and programs critical to the success of the BC wine industry.

Industry Communication: Wine Growers BC will ensure members and stakeholders are communicated with and have access to relevant and current industry information and resources and are knowledgeable about the purpose of Wine Growers BC and the role and responsibilities of the Board of Directors and President & CEO in working on behalf of the BC wine industry.

BC Wine Authority (BCWA): Wine Growers BC advocates for necessary updates and/or changes to provincial wine regulation to support a model that protects the BC VQA Wine standard within a registration, regulatory, and audit system that covers all wineries in British Columbia.

Brand Marketing Effectiveness: Our brand is Wines of British Columbia. Our brand will be communicated through all our programs and communications.

Maximizing the Return-on-Investment of our Program Strategies and Tactics: Wine Growers BC will establish and monitor measurable objectives for our programs to ensure they are effective and efficient in achieving our visionary goals.

Market Development: Wine Growers BC will identify and prioritize key domestic and international markets based on a measurable return-on-investment to industry and ensure a premium market for current production and future growth.

BC VQA Wine Stores: Wine Growers BC will continue to ensure our sales channel is maximized to the benefit of the BC wine industry.

Wine & Food Tourism Marketing: Wine Growers BC recognizes that destination wine and food tourism is critical to the success of BC wineries. Wine Growers BC will take a leadership role in ensuring the Wines of British Columbia play an integral role and that the BC Wine Institute is the key contact of trade and media for provincial marketing and tourism initiatives.

Our Home Market: Wine Growers BC will ensure that our marketing efforts are strategically aligned and mutually supportive in all sales channels within British Columbia.

Benefits/Costs of joining

Benefits:

Our mission is to represent the interests of British Columbia wineries dedicated to producing 100% British Columbia grape wines certified by the regulatory body for wine in British Columbia. Our members benefit from the marketing, communications, and advocacy of their products to all stakeholders.

Example reach for one of our 2019 marketing campaigns promoting BC wine:

Broadcast reach: 5,821,200

Social reach: 540,000

Website: 110,000 pageviews (or 23,800 from just the two campaign pages)

Newsletter reach: 20,000

Our strategic communications efforts provide members with regular and timely news updates including;

• industry trends and business updates
• government policy
• sales figures
• competitions and conferences
• education and webinars
• network opportunities
• Access to information resources, key messaging, media requests, business, education, and network opportunities.

As the leading voice of British Columbia’s certified 100% BC wine industry, WGBC works closely with all levels of government and builds partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders to meet the business needs and policy interests to create common solutions to the shared challenges for our industry.

Fees:

WGBC member fees are based on the volume of wine with 100% BC grape content your winery sells in BC. The fee is $0.10 per litre, with an annual minimum of $100