Innovation sparks brand success in UK

"Continuous innovation” has been touted as the reason behind the success in the UK off-trade for the fourth most popular South African brand, Arniston Bay.

The brand has achieved year-on-year volume growth of 64% and value growth of 58%, according to Nielsen statistics.

Arniston Bay has now notched up a 5.8% value share and 5.6% volume share in the South African UK off-trade sector.

According to the Company of Wine People’s brand and business development manager for UK & Ireland, Barney Davis, the growth is more significant than other South African wines, and he puts it all down to innovation.

“We largely attribute the success of Arniston Bay and our other easy drinking wines,” he says, “to the fact that we are continuously innovating through our variety of packaging alternatives, rigorous marketing and branding campaigns and ongoing research, which is conducted to establish what our consumers are looking for.”

As well as launching the Reserve range, the Original range was given an innovative development through the introduction of screwcaps and refreshed packaging for all varietals.

Chris O’Shea, executive director of sales and marketing at Arniston Bay owner The Company of Wine People, said: "We are very happy that we are able to share the carefree lifestyle that the Arniston Bay brand gives its drinkers with the UK market and we will continue to innovate and work towards moving into the number one spot of South African wines in the UK.”

Meanwhile, the second year of The Drinks Business Wine Innovation Awards is now open for entries.

Designed to highlight and reward all those involved in breaking new ground in the wineries and vineyards, an application form can be downloaded from our website

Jane Parkinson, 08.03.2010