English producer Nyetimber plans to double its exports within ten years
Premium English wine producer Nyetimber has unveiled its plans to boost its exports by a fifth within the next decade.
Exports of the English sparkling wine comprise less than 10% of total annual sales, though they have doubled from a mere 5% in the past two years, with Nyetimber currently shipping to Japan, Denmark and the US.
However, Nytetimber has said it now has its sights set on the Dutch and Canadian markets, followed by “a variety of other countries” according to winemaker Cherie Spriggs, who scooped the Sparkling Wine maker award at the IWC 2018 Awards ceremony earlier this week, the only non-Champagne sparkling producer to have done so since the inception of the awards.
“The UK is always going to be our priority but we are aware that in the 30 years since Nyetimber was founded we have barely scratched the surface of the international scene and this is something we are looking to change in the next few years,” she told Harpers. Not only does the company harbour ambitions on breaking into new markets, but it also wants to expand in its existing markets, mainly the US where it is only available on the East Coast at present.
However, with demand for Nyetimber already oustripping supply the producer would be forced to take a “slow and steady” approach to entering new markets, said Spriggs
“We picked Japan and Denmark as our first export markets very purposefully because of both countries being so passionate about food and drink and because the cuisine in both works so beautifully with sparkling wine,” she said. Spriggs said Canada was “an exciting prospect”, while Holland was a “natural next step” with Nyetimber CEO and owner Eric Heerema born there.