Sophie Preece

Bragato Research Institute occupies “a unique space in the wine research ecosphere”, says outgoing board member James Dicey. BRI governance will be absorbed by the same directors as the New Zealand Winegrowers board as of 1 July, but the institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of NZW, will remain a separate organisation, led by Chief Executive Dr Juliet Ansell, delivering research and innovation for the wine industry.

BRI was founded in 2017 with funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Regional Research Institute (RRI) fund, with the proviso that the institute have its own board, which is no longer a requirement. NZW board Chair Fabian Yukich says the industry owes gratitude to the outgoing board, which set up the research organisation “from scratch”, building both a physical asset and, more importantly, a cohort of people doing research targeted for the New Zealand industry.

Mark Gilbert, who has chaired the BRI board since it began, says it has been a lot of work from governance and staff to stand up a research institute “from zero”, but the organisation now has 25 people doing “fantastic work” as well as an “exceptional leader” in Juliet. “The dividend of that is that the industry has now got a really well set up and well led industry body to do science.”

The institute, which is the only RRI recipient to survive, had the support of MBIE from the beginning, and every milestone review was “quite outstanding”, Mark says. That was thanks to “the quality of the people and the work that was being done”, as well as the BRI strategy and support that the NZW board gave the organisation in its formative years. Eight years on, BRI has gone from being 100% levy funded, to using levies for a third of its income, supported by government and grantor investment. There’s still some misunderstanding as to what science can do, with people looking for a “quick fix”, but “science is a long term play”, Mark says.

James Dicey was a foundation BRI board member, working with fellow NZW board members Dominic Pecchenino and Peter Holley to appoint Mark as chair, along with the first chief executive MJ Loza. When James left the NZW board in 2019, he decided he had “unfinished business” with the BRI, and was appointed as an independent director in 2023, along with Greg Mann. In the years since, they have appointed the “phenomenal” new chief executive, and delivered a refreshed research strategy, James says. “The changes that Juliet has been able to make on the back of that, and the reconnection back to the industry, means the organisation is in really good shape.”

“The levy commitment from NZW, along with support from industry and government, has been a critical component for the ongoing sustainability of BRI.” James Dicey

He says the levy commitment from NZW, along with support from industry and government, has been a critical component for the ongoing sustainability of BRI. The result is “exciting and necessary” research, including work on new clonal material through the Sauvignon Blanc 2.0 programme, vine physiology projects, and the Research Winery, opened in 2020. Those projects wouldn’t have happened under the model used by NZW before the BRI, or via other science providers, he says.

James and another outgoing BRI board member, Dr Bruce Campbell, have been asked to help navigate the transition between the assumption of governance until the upcoming election and appointment of a new NZW board. Bruce, who was Chief Operating Officer at Plant & Food Research and is currently a Director of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, joined the BRI board in 2019. He says the institute represents “a really positive evolution and maturing of the industry to increasingly take responsibility for its own innovation path”.

He applauds NZW for making the investment through the RRI and taking it forward as industry-owned research and development. Its success has brought new innovations forward for the industry, which is vital in times like these, when tough times result in change, and rebalancing of supply with demand. “It’s really important that the industry is charting an innovation future that can catch the upswing coming from new technologies and changing opportunities with consumers, so we continue to grow on the global stage.”

This article was first published in New Zealand Winegrower magazine issue 158 and is republished with permission.