Accolade aims to be ‘one-stop shop’ for New World wines

Accolade Wines’ recent acquisition of Chilean wine brand Anakena marks its aim of becoming the world’s leading provider of New World wines, CEO Paul Schaafsma has said.

Paul Schaafsma said Accolade would be looking to make a further South American acquisition ‘in the next 12 to 18 months’

“What we have now is a brilliant platform in terms of the New World and our vision is really to be the leading New World wine supplier,” Schaafsma said.

The acquisition of Anakena in September means that Accolade now has a footprint in every major New World winegrowing region.

“Anakena is rounding out the key regions of the world that we need, so we see Chile doing extremely well in not only the UK but also Europe.”

Speaking at the launch of the Anakena brand at the Champions Tennis tournament at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Schaafsma also confirmed that Accolade would be looking to make a further investment in South America, focusing on Argentine Malbec, “in the next 12 to 18 months”.

He continued: “We want to continue to provide solutions. We have strong brands but we also have the flexibility to do private label, exclusive label and own-label products because that’s what our customers and our partners need.

“Yes, brands are important, but there’s a portfolio of products that they need and we want to be a one-stop shop for the New World, so you can get your brands from us, you can get your own label from us, with our production footprint and sourcing footprint, and we can do private and exclusive labels for you as well.

“So that compelling offer in a market that is consolidating significantly and looking for efficiencies, we think we are well placed.”

Schaafsma added that the company’s ability to grow brands rapidly combined with its sophisticated distribution channels would serve it well in achieving its aim of becoming the world’s New World leader.

“If you look at what we did with [New Zealand wine brand] Mud House, we took that brand from 10,000 cases to 380,000 cases in 12 months, and it’s the platform that we have, the distribution that we have – we ship more wine than anyone in terms of bulk shipping across the UK [and] we have our packaging facility in the UK, which gives us great efficiencies.

“For our customers it also provides great opportunities in that we can do deliveries ‘day one for day two’, so from a working capital point of view we’re being very helpful to our partners in that we can ensure that their deliveries are there when they need them rather than potentially FOB orders that are sitting in the shed for a long time.”

Accolade currently distributes 35 million cases of wine across in 143 countries, totalling AUS$1 billion (£483m) in sales annually.

Accolade’s portfolio includes brands such as Hardys, Banrock Station, Kumala, Echo Falls and Geyser Peak, which are distributed in more than 80 countries including Australia, the UK, Mainland Europe, the US, Canada, Japan and China.