Why Cantina di Soave has become Cadis 1898

Cantina di Soave, one of Delle Venezie DOC’s oldest wine producers, has rebranded as Cadis 1898 in order to “crystal-clear identity” to each of its wines, the company’s CEO Wolfgang Raifer has said.

The new name is an acronym of ‘Cantina di Soave’, with the addition of of the company’s year of foundation. Cadis 1898 will be an umbrella identity for Cantina di Soave (for the Soave wines), Cantina di Montecchia (for Lessini Durello wines), Cantina di Illasi (for Valpolicella), and Terre al Lago (for Bardolino and Custoza wines).

Explaining the motivation behind this new umbrella identity, Raifer said: “In recent years, we became aware of difficulties customers faced in purchasing, for example, a bottle of Valpolicella with a label reading ‘Cantina di Soave’. This underscored the need for more specificity and for clearly identifying each individual geographical production cellar.”

“All these changes have been introduced with a precise goal,” Raifer continued, “of giving a crystal-clear identity to each of our wines and brands and to the growing areas that produce them, and thus promoting what has always been our mission: showcasing the wines of the Verona-area denominations and their unique individual growing areas.”

While the branding has been simplified in order to avoid confusion and clarify the company’s message, Raifer reassured that the “soul” will remain the same: “Our outward appearance may be changing, but certainly not the spirit of this 125-year-old institution, a soul that has guided us in achieving impressive results for our 2,000 grower-members and for all the loyal customers who have been purchasing and enjoying our wines these many years.”

Given the company’s illustrious history, it naturally raises questions about how it has lasted for so longer. When asked this, Raifer suggested: “The secret of our longevity is certainly the link with the territory of Verona and with our 2,000 grower-members. Ours is a large family that looks to the future with confidence.”

That future looks very bright indeed. The company’s 2022 financial report showed a gross revenue of €143.8 million, an impressive 16% rise on the 2021 figure. The domestic/Italian market accounted for two-thirds (66%) of the revenue, with the remainder being international markets.

“We are already present on all major international markets,” Raifer explained, “especially in Europe we look with confidence to Germany, England and the Scandinavian countries. For the future, we are aiming for North America.”

It was also good news for the 2,000 grower-members, who saw their crop deliveries rise in value to €66.5m, for an average individual income in excess of €10,300 per hectare. Cadis 1898 oversees a total of 6,400ha of vineyards in Veneto. Production is eclipses 40m bottles per annum.

“These figures encourage us to continue along the same path we are on,” Raifer shared. “Yes, we are quite aware of having a lot more to do, but we are confident at the same time that the future will bring us new rewards.”

As for plans for the coming year, Raifer shared: “In 2023 we launched Cadis 1898 in the large distribution channel, in 2024 it will be up to the HoReCa [hotel, restaurant, catering] channel with the launch of new products in view of the important trade fair events that await us next spring. In recent years we have launched a strategic repositioning project that will serve to give us greater recognition on all markets, both against traders and consumers.”