McGuigan UK’s 5th biggest wine brand

Australian wine brand McGuigan has grown to become the fifth largest selling wine brand in the UK according to the latest figures from Nielsen.

The brand has enjoyed 14.6% year on year growth in the UK and 53.7% 12-week growth, making it the UK’s fastest growing wine brand in the last quarter.

“This is fantastic news for our brand and it is something we couldn’t have achieved without our loyal McGuigan customers in the UK,” Neil McGuigan, the chief executive of McGuigan’s parent company, Australian Vintage, said.

This August, AVL signed a longterm distribution agreement with the wine and spirits arm of China’s largest food manufacturer and trader, COFCO.

The agreement has seen AVL become the strategic partner for Australian wine in China within the newly established International Wine division of COFCO.

“Competition remains fierce across the Australian and overseas markets and the low 2014 vintage has resulted in a higher cost of wine, which will continue to impact margins in the short term,” McGuigan said.

“With this in mind, we continue to focus on driving wine quality up, which we believe will put us in a favourable long-term position to continue to grow our footprint both locally and overseas,” he added.

This November, the International Wine and Spirit Competition named Neil McGuigan as its 2015 president.