One of the disgruntled growers is Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board deputy chairman Robert Bellato, who said the industry was deeply unfair to grape growers.

“There’s too much power to the wineries, and we growers are price takers not price setters when in other industries it’s the other way around,” Mr Bellato said.

“In the past we’ve been paid an unfair price - in some cases below the cost of production.”

Many of Mr Bellato’s fellow growers had been losing money from 2010 to 2017, but since then prices have perked up and are expected to continue rising.

But Mr Bellato said that much more needs to be done to recoup the staggering losses and ensure a viable industry heading into the future.

“There’s a lot of repairing to do in the industry to make it fair and equitable,” he said.

Growers will discuss their grape grievances at an ACCC forum in the Coro Club at 9am on Tuesday, where they will talk about ways to fix the industry.

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh told The Area News that they were considering making sweeping changes to the horticultural code.

“We received a lot of responses from grape growers who said there were significant competition issues in their sector that aren’t covered by the horticultural code,” Mr Keogh said.

“We're in the process of engaging with the stakeholders with the industry about how the industry works and what some issues of concern are for growers.”

Mr Keogh will be at the forum, where he will be fielding questions about price transparency, grape grading systems, length of payment terms and other problems.

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