BBR HK’s marketing head joins Barossa Grape & Wine Association

Amanda Longworth, the head of marketing and wine services at Berry Bros & Rudd’s Hong Kong office, has left the British wine merchant and will be joining Barossa Grape & Wine Association (BGWA) to help drive market promotion for Barossa wines, as Australian wine exports hit an all-time high.

Longworth, an Australian native, will officially assume her role as brand strategy manager by the end of February after working for nearly five years at Berry Bros & Rudd, while Phoebe Wong, assistant marketing manager will be taking over from Longworth, dbHK has learned.

“Her international experience, network and skills were an ideal match for the candidate we were hoping to attract to this position. Amanda and her husband will be relocating to Barossa from Hong Kong and we look forward to welcoming them to the Barossa community,”James March, CEO of the association told dbHK in an email reply.

Longworth will be representing over 500 growers and 170 wineries globally through the promotion of the region.

“We’ll both be in Hong Kong for Vinexpo later in May to showcase some fantastic Barossa wine and help promote the Barossa Wine School in partnership with our friends and colleagues at AWSEC,” March added. Launched in 2013, the Barossa Wine School aims to enhance people’s understanding of Barossa history, viticulture, winemaking and wine styles. 

According to the association’s vintage report, Barossa has 13,871 hectares of vineyards in 2017 and crushed 85,149 tonnes of wine grapes. 

Demand for Barossa wine remained very strong in export markets, particularly China, the largest export market for Barossa wines in both value and volume, according to the BGWA’s 2016/17 annual report.

Exports of Barossa-labelled wine to China grew by nearly 30% in volume in 2016/17, while export values jumped by 25%. Australia exported more than 2.7 million litres of wine worth about AU$40.87 million to the mainland during the period.

Additionally, Hong Kong overtook Canada to become the fourth largest export market by value with the highest average price per litre of all export markets at AU$32.28/litre.