TWE adds French wine portfolio

Australian wine giant, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), has announced the introduction of French wines to its portfolio in a bid to drive its growth in North Asia.

The new French proposition, to be launched in the second half of this year, will build on TWE’s existing portfolios from Australia, New Zealand, California and Italy, the company said at its inaugural Investor Day in Napa, California. The exact brands of the French wines have not been disclosed yet. 

The new addition will include three tiers of wines including Bordeaux, Burgundy and Châteauneuf du Pape reds, and Rosé from Provence and Champagne. The wines will first be made available in North Asia before eventually marketing and selling them across other regions of the world in 2018.

“French wine is now an exciting new addition to our portfolio offering, and will be one of our important launches in fiscal year 2018. While the French category is very established globally and regarded as a quality trustmark, particularly in North Asia, we will bring a ‘new world’ mentality to marketing and selling this wine,” said TWE CEO, Michael Clarke.

“We have been investing behind the brands that can deliver growth on a global scale for our business with stronger marketing activity to drive consumer demand across all of our regions. We’ve also spent time refreshing and ‘fixing’ many of our brands, with a number of our Californian wine brands recently undergoing packaging refreshes including Beaulieu Vineyard, Sterling Vineyards and Beringer,” he added.

In addition, the executive team also announced financial targets for fiscal year 2018. For Australia and New Zealand markets, the company will focus on market share gains and premiumisation to deliver volume and value growth. In Asia, it’s hoping to become the number one importer while preserving 30% to 35% EBITS margin performance. For the European market, its main target is to protect double-digit EBITS margin performance in a commercial market, while for the Americas, it is shifting from fixing to growth, with EBITS margin to drive growth for the company over time.