For those that don't know Society of Vintners give us a top line on what you do and how you operate?
The Society of Vintners (SoV) is a member owned, not-for-profit, wine buying group, run by independent management, for on-trade wholesalers. We offer a complete supply package - 95% of our wines are only available from SoV.We have about 100,000 cases in stock in the UK, for 48 hour delivery to our members.
As an example, if you want your own label Chilean bottled Merlot, you can aim to get big enough to be able to specify an own label, then commit to a certain volume three months before it arrives, you can manage all the logistics and legal requirements, and organise shipping, and duty paid or under bond warehousing, and then be ready to pay for it all in one go.
Or you can just buy it from SoV who will who arrange everything, including delivery to you in just two days, with no forecasting or volume requirements or demands on cash flow.
We accept the risks and help members iron out the fluctuations inherent in shipping wine from across the world – currency movements, shipping rates, fuel surcharges etc.
In terms of your members - how do you become a member and what criteria do you choose?
New members are welcomed. Typically wine constitutes at least 20% of their turnover, and they will already be supplying the on-trade (although this is often a target growth area for them). Turnover is likely to be £500,000 to £10 million.
They need to buy-in to our ethos of collaboration and co-operation, and are expected to attend two group meetings per year. However, there are no minimum volume or listing or order requirements – we appreciate that our members want to be entirely free to make their own decisions about which wines they buy.
As a broad guideline, we would expect a new member to be ordering at least 750 bottles of our wines per month (there are over 350 to choose from) after a few months of membership. There are plenty of areas of UK population where there is room for another member.
Together you are now responsible for sourcing and importing a considerable amount of wine - what are your latest top line figures in terms of volume and value?
Our turnover is around £21 million including duty and we are selling circa 700,000 x six bottle cases per year (so in excess of 4 million bottles).
You have ambitious growth plans to increase those volumes - what are they are, how are you going to go about doing that?
We want to increase from 700k six packs, to around 1,000k six packs over the next three plus years. There is a two-fold approach to this growth. Firstly, encouraging current members to buy more from us, and we can do this by increasing the breadth and interest in our portfolio. We know there are wines our members buy from other agencies and producers, and the main reason they do that is we are not currently providing them with options in certain areas.
By filling these gaps and presenting them with good, commercial options, the incentive to buy from us rather than a competitor is already there, so we know we can increase volume.
Secondly, we are interested in bringing new members into the fold. As per the above, new members are welcome, but they need to be the right members in the right areas – where we currently have gaps, and where they can complement the current members.
We are interested in any wholesaler serving any geography across the UK. We presently have specific gaps covering central London, the North East and Yorkshire.
How do you identify where you have strategic gaps to fill in terms of supply?
With Claire (Greenwood) coming in as our new commercial director, we have started to carry out a gap analysis of where we have spaces to fill – some of the biggest ones identified to date are regional specialities within Italy, France and Spain.
As well as looking at the product gaps, I also think we have a big piece of work to do to review all the current supply base and ensure we’re getting the best products from the right people.
SoV has historically been very loyal to producers, and have built up some very strong, long term relationships, and we want to build on that; but also introduce new producers who understand the ethos of the business and want to work with us. Bringing Claire into the business gives us the chance to do this, strategically.
You are keen to build on ‘Tier 2’ wines - what do you mean by that?
SoV is very strong on high volume, entry wines – which are essential for our members and their customers, and where we have the biggest opportunity is in adding regional specialities, which also means adding interest and fun.
Tier 2 will need to be story driven – producers and products who we can sell into the members properly, with a real USP – which could be around the family producing the wines, their sustainability plans, new and emerging regions and wine styles.
There is so much to go at here, and I think this is what our members are crying out for.
Part of that growth strategy comes down to the team - can you explain your roles and what you have been brought in to achieve?
Claire, coming in as the first commercial director at SoV, brings an extensive skillset in both commercial buying and sales, which is a very rare profile of person. Her role will comprise overseeing the portfolio, making range changes and analysing our data to drive member led changes.
Another big element of the role will be increasing member liaison – we need someone who is out more seeing and spending time with members, understanding their needs and sourcing with them in mind. She will also take on responsibility for ensuring the members understand what is offer from the Society, and to ensure they are making use of all the opportunities we offer – be that logistically, or using our services such as Menu Maestro (our bespoke wine list creation service).
On top of this, there is a big piece of work to be done with the supply base – we have a formal supplier assurance programme which needs managing, to ensure we are really getting the best of our suppliers.
Claire - Why did you want to join the Society?
Claire Greenwood has joined the Society of Vintners' as its first commercial director
Claire Greenwood: I was blown away by the size and scale of SoV, for a business which I considered fairly under the radar. It is a unique model, and I could see very quickly the benefit of having engaged members, but I could also see that the range needed some work, which John, Paula and the team have just not had the time to do.
We need a strong on-trade in the UK, and we need people like our members working to support their customers, and I think with the right portfolio, we are really well placed to support them and help them grow their businesses.
I also really liked the fact the majority of the members were family owned and run, and that many of our producers were the same. When you are working with family businesses, you can see the care and love they put into everything they do, and SoV can be a business which can drive some real good in the wine trade and I want to be part of that.
Where do you see the big opportunities for the Society to move to the next level?
We have an extremely solid base of suppliers, members, knowledge and finance; and so are extremely well placed to develop SoV further, with both new members and an extended product range.
What challenges are you facing in achieving those goals and how are you getting around them?
One of the main challenges has been in resources – SoV has been built with just two full timers plus more recently two part timers running the whole operation. So there is plenty for Claire to do.
How do you manage and encourage members to be fully and fairly involved in what you are doing?
Members have always been key in contributing to the final decisions over which wines we buy, their brands and label designs. The supply chain is extremely short and direct, so if members want a new label or a new brand, we can make it happen – and quickly. Thus they know that their views are critical in our developments; and because they are so close to the market, we can be very responsive to the latest trends.
With Claire coming on board, she can spend more time with members, and find out what they need, and quickly and efficiently go and source it. She will also give us the ability to present wines to them, as any other supplier would, and for them to be quickly available in the UK.
Examples of the exclusive wines available to Society of Vintners members
Tier two wines, for example, will be incredibly important, as we want to be seen to be offering our members first to markets, and real gems for their wine lists. We know not all members need the same things, but when we are talking to members more, we can be on top of their individual and group needs.
We also supply a lot of guidance and education on key topics :
For example,
i) Members were very fully briefed on the alcohol duty review before it, and the likely effects, really became known (we even sent videos to our suppliers to help them deliver what we needed).
ii) We brought in external solicitors to advise members on the specific requirements that they, as drinks wholesalers, would need to address with GDPR(General Data Protection Regulation).
iii) Members are clear on the significant unfairness of EPR disposal fees being imposed on sales to on-trade venues.
But the primary benefit is that members tell us that they gain great benefit from just meeting with group members and talking over the challenges of the wine on-trade – both in terms of running a business, and in managing wine sales.
How do you pick your suppliers - what criteria do you use?
The Society's recent portfolio tasting at Birmingham Town Hall.
Much of the supply base has been working with SoV for many years, and have incredible relationships with the team here, and with a lot of our members. Going forward we want to ensure we are working with suppliers who fully understand both our business model, and the way our members operate, but also the current situation it the UK – which we all know is tough.
We want to work with producers who are forward thinking, fast paced, and most of all collaborative. We don’t want transactional relationships, we want both parties to flourish and to do this there needs to be communication, mutual respect and honesty on both sides. Plus some really exciting wines.
New suppliers coming on board with us will need to be able to demonstrate they can offer us value, great products at great pricing, and are working in a sustainable way within their own regions. We want newness and interest, and we want suppliers to be coming to us, showing us new wines and ranges first and really thinking of SoV as a key customer in the UK.
Anything else to say?
I think that having completely independent management has been critical in building SoV to the current size. Decisions are not influenced by the needs of ones’ employer; nor limited by the time pressures of working for one company but trying to find time to work for someone else.
Perhaps the thing of which we are most proud is that no member has ever left us because of something we have (or have not) done.
* You can find out more about the Society of Vintners here.
