Portugal: Wine industry suffers decline in revenue amid COVID-19 pandemic

 

 

 

Portugal’s economy has been affected by many sectors of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the country’s wine sector. 

 

The second lockdown has further damaged the income of several companies (especially small businesses), and the closure of restaurants and bars has also severely affected the wine distribution business. 

 

Jorge Santos works for a company that sells wine. Jorge told The Portugal News that he only works from home once a week and his schedule is "between one and two hours."  For the rest of the day, work is done over the phone, and employees call "some customers who are still in business." However, the number of orders is still small. 

 

The seller said that after the restaurant was closed, the scope of customers was reduced to "some supermarkets," and customers "required for their own consumption because everything related to the restaurant was closed." 

 

Government support and employee efforts may sometimes not be enough, and it turns out that it is more expensive for companies to work from home because, according to Jorge, when he went out, “the time, fuel, money, and rewards are almost nothing. " 

 

The opening of terraces after Easter is the end of the tunnel for all company employees. They hope to work as usual and restore their usual customers to ensure their profits.