Influential Industry Leaders Join WISA Board

The peak national industry body representing Australia’s grape and wine supply sector, Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc (WISA), yesterday welcomed two new board members at their Annual General Meeting held in Adelaide.

Prior to the AGM, WISA received five quality nominations including one re-nomination for two vacant positions. Jason Amos, Managing Director of Lallemand Australia and David Parkin, Regional Sales Manager of Orora South Australia were successful in being elected by members for two-year terms.

WISA Chair, Paula Edwards from Winegrapes Australia, welcomed the two members at the Associations AGM and made a special mention to the high calibre field of candidates.

“It was an encouraging sign to have such a worthy lineup of candidates and I congratulate Jason and David on being elected. They each bring a unique skill set to enhance our effectiveness as a board to successfully represent and deliver value for our diverse membership base.” said Edwards.

As Managing Director of Lallemand Australia, Jason Amos, has built a strong and collaborative reputation across industry holding positions on both the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia Research Advisory Committee and the Diversity and Equality in Wine working group while also playing an active role on the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference 2019 Planning Committee.

“It is my vision for WISA and its members to be recognised for their role in applied research and resulting commercialisation of new innovations and processes which benefits the wine industry. I am also keen to see WISA forge even stronger connections with other peak grape and wine bodies at all levels of industry to deliver improved outcomes across the value chain.” said Amos.

David Parkin brings a valuable range of skills to the board as Regional Sales Manager at leading packaging supplier Orora along with previous experience in the FMCG trade with companies such as Cadbury Schweppes and TipTop. He also understands the winery side of the industry having previously held the National Trade Marketing Manager role with Hardy’s Wine Australia.

“I spent a lot of my childhood in the Barossa Valley, where my uncle made his own wine. Throughout my career, my roles have often allowed me direct or indirect exposure to the industry. I look forward to offering my sales, marketing and operational skills to assist WISA to grow and deliver greater value to members and broader industry stakeholders.” added Parkin.

Overall, WISA presented a strong position in its 2017-18 Annual Report with specific mention to growth of the Wine Industry IMPACT Awards, the addition of the direct-to-consumer Wine Industry IMPACT Conference and related collaboration with Wine Australia on research in this area along with operational efficiency improvements through the implementation of their Member Evolution IT infrastructure that delivers a unified website, CRM and Association management system.

Edwards concluded “The past year has positioned WISA for future success. Our position in the industry has never been more relevant and this has been achieved by being active, collaborating and delivering value across the industry. The opportunity is to grow and build on these foundations.”