Communicating Rural Development

PROJECT OF THE MONTH: Viver de Celleristes

Viver de Celleristes winery gives market access to new wine businesses

Viver de Celleristes winery helps to keep the wine-making tradition in the Conca de Barberà region in Catalonia, Spain. EAFRD co-funding totaling 800 000 EUR and making up around 26% of the total investment has helped young companies gain market access with wine sales.

Open-access incubator serves six wine businesses

With an open-access business incubator allowing six entrepreneurs to make wine at any one time, companies starting out do not need to make the initial investment to fund an incubator. Instead, they pay rent over 5 years. In this time they have the opportunity to see if their business will be successful or not. The incubator is therefore an incentive for new businesses starting out who might not otherwise be able to fund the initial investment costs.

As one beneficiary of the project said: “We were able to put our product on the market at low cost. Without this initial opportunity, we could not have launched our products in the same way.”

Training is also offered to the wine business on the process of commercialization, with the opportunity to learn about internet sales, commercialization, wholesale and retail distribution.

Preserving regional history and tradition

The project not only supports wine entrepreneurs but is also used specifically for the ‘Denominaciόn de Origen’ grape, ‘Trepat’. This is an autochthonous grape variety produced only in the Conca de Barberà region. The project has socio-historical importance as the first national agrarian cooperative used nationally for the processing of grapes and EAFRD co-financing was also used for the renovation of the original building.

For more information on the project, please visit the Viver de Celleristes website.