Drinks Company of the Year

Bibendum

Wine company Bibendum was established in 1982 by Simon Farr, with the aim of being “the most accessible, relevant and captivating wine company in the business”. Today Bibendum employs over 150 staff and is the third largest company in terms of wine sales, with an annual turnover of £89 million in the last financial year. In addition it has been voted one of the Top 100 companies to work for in the UK by The Sunday Times for the third consecutive year.

The past year has seen continued development at Bibendum, with the formalisation of a new fine wine division under Ed Cottrell and a new senior management team in place in February.

Now firmly established as a national player in the on-trade, Bibendum has been appointed sole supplier for Malmaison Hotels (an account valued at around £1.5m per annum), for the De Vere Group (£5m) and the Orchid Pub Group (£4m). In total, active on-trade accounts increased by 10%.

Off-trade turnover increased by 17%, largely as a result of over 80 new listings. Our judges commended both these new business wins and Bibendum’s “excellent customer understanding”. They also praised the company’s “solid new product development”, with projects including Noble Dragon Chinese wine.

“Brand Bibendum” has also continued to go from strength to strength in the eyes of the panel, who commented on the company’s “first rate marketing” – particularly for its own annual tasting, which attracted 1,700 visitors.

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“Simply put,” said one of the judges, “Bibendum ticks all the boxes.”