Broadland Wineries signs "significant" deal with Australia's biggest wine retailer
Broadland Wineries, one of the UK’s key importing and bottling companies, has signed a “significant deal” with Australia’s biggest wine retailer. The agreement will see Broadland become the distributor for Pinnacle Drinks, part of Australia’s Woolworths Group which owns the eponymous supermarket chain as well as the Dan Murphy wine store chain in addition to other retail brands under the Endeavour Drinks Group umbrella
This new tie up is a significant move for Broadland, which specializes in British-made wine and private label, most famously for UK supermarket chain Asda, as it gives the company access to the bulk wine market in Australia and New Zealand sourced by the Woolworths Group.
With more than half (53%) of the Australian retail wine market Woolworths has more buying power than any other group in the region.
Paul Schaafsma, the newly appointed CEO of Broadland Wineries said that the deal was a major move forward for the Norfolk-based contract wine bottler, and that he now had the same buying power as Woolworths.
“Woolworths buy 30 million litres of bulk wine every year in the Australian market, and they have said they will give me what I need at the best price in Australia – it gives me the clout of Australian Vintage, Accolade or Pernod Ricard, because I am taping into Woolworths’ winebuying power; they are the most competitive in the market,” he told Drinks Business.
Schaafsma has already poached three former colleagues from Accolade where he was previously CEO in readiness for Broadland to carry out its expansion plans. These include the creation of an agency business for Broadlands, while also building wholly-owned Broadland brands, and expanding the company’s British made wine and fruit fusion capabilities.