Accolade adopts new name

Accolade Wines, formerly Constellation Wines Australia and Europe, officially adopted its new name today, with the company’s main focus on developing its “global” outlook.

The company owns market-leading brands such as Hardys and Echo Falls.

Constellation announced it was to change its name earlier this year following an AU$290 million takeover by Sydney-based Champ Private Equity.

Speaking of the company’s strategy following the rebrand, chief executive officer Troy Christensen said: “Our vision is about getting more people to enjoy our wines, our strategy is to drive value growth and enhance profit and margins in key markets including the UK and Europe by using consumer and category insight to build our brands and drive industry leading innovation.

“Our mission is about being global, with global brands and a global footprint.”

Explaining the rationale behind the new name, Christensen added: “The new name Accolade Wines is all about applauding everything we do and celebrating our key company assets – our award-winning wines and facilities like Accolade Park and our great people. It’s also about being recognised for responding quickly to customer and consumer needs.

James Lousada, commercial general manager for UK and Europe, added: “We are aiming to become a forward thinking company which is agile and responsive.

“This approach is already paying dividends, we are outperforming the market with value sales up 12.4% compared to the market of 4.9% and volume sales up 8.9% at a time when the overall market is declining by 1.8%.”