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Harpers
7th December 2007
By Jack Hibberd
Mixing the Grape and the Grain
The Wine Specialist Who Took on a Beer
‘Whe
one of the UK's leading wine merchants, Ayrshire-based Alliance Wine,
took on the much-lauded Australian pale ale, Little Creatures, it was more
by accident than by design. "There was a historic link for the beer
with Stella Bella, one of our agencies, as at that time the winemaker,
also brewed the beer. So we thought, why not?" says Giles Cooke MW,
Wine Development Director at Alliance. "We did well with it, selling
14,000 cases of 24 bottles in its first year, with listings in Oddbins,
Waitrose and Sainsbury's, which is pretty good going. "
"But the support needed to boost sales beyond that point is high - it
always is when you are in the supermarkets - and the brand owner had
different ideas on how to move forward. We see similar issues in the
wine trade: many Australian producers have unrealistic expectations for
new products in the UK market", he says.
But there
are more general challenges for wine companies expanding into beer. "I
think one of the major issues is distribution," reflects Cooke. "The
cost compared to that of the product is extremely high, especially if
you have customers who want relatively small orders or who don't take
wine in the same order. Composite wholesalers generally have much
larger economies of scale and run their own trucks, which makes the
distribution costs much, much lower."
Even so, Alliance would "definitely" consider taking on another beer,
Cooke says. "We still carry Little Creatures and we sell it to places
like Smith's and the Tate Gallery that we have a good relationship
with. Customers for good quality wine are generally customers for good
quality beer. It's a nice little add on."
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