Hydra Consulting supporting digitisation in Australia's wine sector
The Australian Government is looking to lay greater emphasis on the economic role being played by South Australian vineyards in the country’s international wine industry. The region is eyeing greater use of technology to enhance its wine production, and is in the process being supported professional services firm Hydra Consulting.
Established in 2015, Hydra Consulting is a business advisory firm that specialises in growth strategy and business development. The firm supports clients at various stages of their operations, with the primary objective of maintaining competitiveness in a rapidly changing business environment.
South Australian vineyards are in need of such an intervention. The region contributes approximately 80% of all the premium wines that are produced in Australia, and generates revenues in excess of $1 billion. However, the sector has been slow to integrate technology, contributing to inefficiencies across its operations.
The government is now looking to tackle this issue, through a new programme named Foment – South Australian’s Wine and Tourism Tech Revolution. The programme recognises the revenue contribution of South Australia to the wine sector, the tourism sector, and the economy as a whole, looking to foster this value.
Hydra Consulting will work alongside the Flinders New Venture Institute – a business incubation and acceleration firm – to help roll out the new tech-based programme. Hydra Consulting’s involvement in the project is not surprising, given its previous work with Australia’s wine sector.
The consulting firm was appointed last year by Wine Australia to support with the development of two programmes, namely Wine Tourism and Wine Export Capability Building. Both programmes were also government funded, and were looking to boost the overall operations of Australia’s wine sector, which has taken on an international profile.
Foment places its focus primarily in the tech domain, enabling startups in South Australia’s wine sector to explore the benefits of new agricultural technology that could boost their production as well as make it smarter and more resource efficient. Certain wine producers are leading the way when it comes to integrating technology such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality within their production.
However, the rest of the wine sector is slow to follow, due primarily to the same factors that necessitate consulting support for the overall agricultural sector in Australia – a lack of education. Producers in the region need to be familiarised with the latest technology, and Hydra Consulting will now support the Foment team with successfully deploying the transition.
