AROUND THE WORLD: May 2007

Global Gathering, there will be no shortage of international winemakers at Cellar Door’s stand at the LIWSF this year…V&S acquires assets, Swedish group Vin & Sprit (V&S) has acquired the remainder of Norwegian distributor Amundsen AS…

Global Gathering
There will be no shortage of international winemakers at Cellar Door’s stand at the LIWSF this year

This year a selection of winemakers from Cellar Door’s wineries around the world will be on hand at the LIWSF, and will host six exclusive and intimate seminars:

Bill Hardy, fifth generation descendent of Australian wine-making pioneer Thomas Hardy, company founder and one of the “fathers” of the South Australian wine industry, will be showing a selection from the Hardys range.

Ed Carr, group sparkling winemaker at Hardy Wine Company and Australia’s most awarded sparkling winemaker, will present a comparative tasting of sparkling wine from the New and Old Worlds, including the new 2001 vintage of Arras.

Jennifer Beloz, associate winemaker at Ravenswood, will exhibit a selection of wines from the Ravenswood portfolio.

Stuart Bourne, senior winemaker at Barossa Valley Estate will conduct a vertical tasting of E&E wines, showing the ageing capacity of fine Barossa Valley Shiraz.

Simon Osicka, winemaker at Leasingham, will show a selection of wines from this famous Clare Valley winery.

Mark de Vere, resident MW at Icon Estates, will demonstrate the best of Napa – a focused look at wines from across the valley. De Vere is frequently a source of information for Californian wine education and marketing programmes.

V&S acquires assets
Swedish group Vin & Sprit (V&S) has acquired the remainder of Norwegian distributor Amundsen AS.

The owner of the Absolut brand has controlled 50% of the wine and spirits importer since 2001. Until now, the company has co-owned it with the Amundsen family.

CEO Catherine Amundsen Dahl commented: “It is now natural that we go the whole way and become part of the V&S group.”

V&S chief executive Bengt Baron said that during the years of partnership “the company has developed positively and our ambition is to get an even stronger position in the market”. After a recent decision by Foster’s to allow V&S to distribute its portfolio of wines in the Nordic region, the company will become the second-largest distributor of wine and spirits in Norway.

In other V&S news, the company has confirmed the acquisition of the assets of the Florida Distillers Company in the US by the Belvédère Group.

The assets include two  distilleries, with a total annual production capacity of five million nine-litre cases, which will facilitate the development of its business in the US.

Danone threatens legal action
If an agreement is not reached between Danone and Wahaha group in China over an alleged breach of a non-competition contract by 9 May, the former has threatened legal action.

Five subsidiaries were formed in 1996 between Wahaha and Danone, with agreements signed about exclusive rights of production, distribution and sales of Wahaha brands. More recently, Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of Wahaha is said to have set up other non-integrated companies selling the same products.

Wahaha is the largest beverage group in China, and one of the most successful joint ventures in the country.

The French company confirmed last month that discussions were underway, with an official statement explaining that “Groupe Danone intends to ensure the proper application of agreements entered into with Mr Zong.”

Danone’s president in the Asia-Pacific area, Emmanuel Faber, was reported in the Chinese press as willing to resolve this dispute through negotiation.

Pepsi ban lifted in India
The decision of a village council in India to withdraw PepsiCo’s operating license has been overruled by the Kerala High Court.

Claiming the plant’s use of local resources was causing water shortages in the area, the Puthussery village council cancelled the license in 2004. The High Court ruled that the industrial site falls outside of the council’s jurisdiction, and that the decision was therefore invalid.

The council, or panchayat, run by the Communist Party of India, is said to have been targeting multinational companies. The battle since last year’s ban on Coca-Cola and Pepsi in India has been ongoing. The High Court subsequently lifted the ban, but Suresh Raj of the Anti-Pepsi Action Committee called for an appeal against the judgement.

Elsewhere in the country, PepsiCo India is planning to launch a nutritious drink within the next three years. Making use of a nutrition advisory board, the drink’s formula has yet to be finalised. The soft drinks giant’s CEO in India, Sanjeev Chadha, explained that while this was finalised in India, “sales teams and R&D departments are working at the Asian level”.

Chadha added that the company is “present in the most remote of villages. We want to use that to spread a vitamin and calcium rich beverage.”

The company’s Indian subsidiary also revealed intentions to launch a number of other new beverages within this three-year time scale, including flavoured waters and soya-based drinks. There will also be a greater emphasis on Tropicana and Gatorade in the region.

There was also mention of an existing US partnership between PepsiCo and Starbucks being extended to India, given the coffee chain’s plans to enter the country.

Rolland to set up wine company
Oenologist michel Rolland is leaving the négociant system. The consultant is setting up his own wine company, which will sell and distribute products from a number of wineries around the world.

In addition to five properties in Bordeaux, the company will initially distribute wines from one in Spain, two in Argentina and two in South Africa. These are all fully- or part-owned by Rolland and his wife.

Known as the Rolland Collection, the new company’s MD will be Rolland’s son-in-law David Lesage, who worked for one of Bordeaux’s most significant merchants, the CVBG.

Lesage explained that this initiative was about “being as close to our consumers as possible”.

Properties in the Rolland Collection include Château Fontenil and Château Rolland-Maillet in Bordeaux, Val de Flores in Argentina, and Remhoogte in South Africa.

JF Hillebrand expands
German-based logistics provider JF Hillebrand Group continues to expand with its recent acquisition of Trans Ocean Distribution Limited.

The former provides logistics services to beverage companies around the world, while the latter specialises in providing transport solutions for the bulk shipping trade.

JF Hillebrand currently employs 1,000 people in 22 countries, with its headquarters in Mainz, Germany. Its primary functions include freight forwarding, ocean freight management and the development of tracking tools. Trans Ocean Distribution is based in Southampton in the UK and employs 250 people.

The motivation for the merger is to take advantage of opportunities presented by the beverage logistics industry, as well as have greater scope for developing flexitank solutions for other markets.

Brendan McKenna, president of Trans Ocean Distribution, will join JF Hillebrand’s executive board.

Aussie grape shortage

This year’s Australian wine grape harvest is set to be the smallest in seven years. Initial estimates last month predicted a decrease of 29% from last year.

The decrease is being attributed to seasonal conditions, such as drought, frost and bushfire taint. Another factor affecting yields was significant rain in mid-January.

As a result, Australian wine production is expected to fall by 400 million litres. Red grapes experienced a more drastic decrease than white, resulting from a number of factors such as higher proportions in cooler areas that were more affected by climatic conditions.

A report from the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation concluded: “The reduced crop this season will allow existing excess wine stocks to be considerably reduced and to accelerate a return to more sustainable operating conditions.”

No bottle
South african breweries reported a shortage of beer bottles last month, resulting in limited availability of certain brands.

The company blamed an “unusually” high demand for beer, with volumes at 13.7 million hectolitres, up from 11 million last year.

Imports of 20,000 tons of glass per month have apparently been initiated in an attempt to address the shortage.

© db May 2007