South Africa: The Cape Wine Academy reaches 100 000-student milestone
SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG, 19 OCTOBER 2011 – Since its inception 32 years ago in 1979, over 100 000 students have enrolled for various Cape Wine Academy courses throughout South Africa.
Approximately 50 000 of these students attended various tertiary institutions at which the Cape Wine Academy teaches the wine module. These institutions include cookery and hospitality schools as well as universities.
For most of the 18-25 year olds attending the wine courses, this is their first exposure to many of the wine brands. The Wine Service Course, the Preliminary wine course and Wines of the World course are all offered at various institutions therefore students experience many different entry-level wines, prestigious labels and imported wines as part of their curriculum.
Marilyn Cooper, Cape Wine Master, CEO of the Cape Wine Academy and co-founder of the Soweto Wine Festival says: “Often consumers are inclined to drink familiar and safe wine labels and our courses change this as these consumers become exposed to a wide variety of wines.
“They are therefore predisposed to experiment with new cultivars and producers. In this way, the Academy broadens the buying spend of consumers and simultaneously increases the per capital wine consumption.”
In order to fulfil this latter ideal, the CWA has been instrumental in organising successful wine festivals in Soweto and Gugulethu. These festivals are also instrumental in increasing the number of people of colour attending the Academy’s public courses, which is now at an average of 20%.
Adinda Booysen, newly-appointed Managing Director of the Cape Wine Academy says, “The continued support of the wine industry is essential to the success of these courses as they kindly donate their wines, which enables the Cape Wine Academy to nurture the love of wine amongst the students.”
The Cape Wine Academy is an active contributor to the South African workforce nationally in stimulating employment as many of their students go on to be succesful waiters, sommeliers, restaurant managers, winemakers, tourism hospitality managers, tour operators, chefs, hotel and guesthouse employees and such like.
