Broadland secures ‘significant deal’ with Australia’s largest wine retailer

UK bottler Broadland Wineries has secured “a significant deal” with Australia’s largest wine retailer.

Broadland becomes the distributor in the UK for Dorrien Estate, a 400,000 case Barossa-based wine brand owned the Woolworths Group

The partnership sees Broadland become the distributor for Pinnacle Drinks, which is part of Australia’s Woolworths Group – the owner of the supermarket by the same name and the Dan Murphy’s chain of wine stores, among other wine retail brands that are grouped under the umbrella company of Endeavour Drinks Group.

Significantly, the tie-up gives Broadland access to bulk wine in Australia and New Zealand sourced by the Woolworths Group, which, with a dominant share of the Australian wine retail market, has more buying power than anyone else in this part of the world.

Speaking exclusively to the drinks business about the new partnership, Paul Schaafsma, the newly-appointed CEO of Broadland Wineries, said that the agreement represented a major move forward for the contract wine bottler and brand owner, which is based in Norfolk.

“Woolworths buy large quantities of bulk wine every year in the Australian market, and they have said they will give me what I need at the best price in Australia – it gives me the clout of Australian Vintage, Accolade or Pernod Ricard, because I am tapping into Woolworth’s wine buying power; they are the most competitive in the market,” he said.

He summed up, “It means that I now have the buying power of Woolworths.”

Explaining further the nature of the deal, he said that Broadland Wineries is able to get access to bulk wine from Australia and New Zealand at the same price as Woolworths, while Broadland becomes the distributor in the UK for Dorrien Estate, a 400,000 case Barossa-based wine brand owned by the Australian retail giant.

Stressing the importance of the partnership, he said that not only has it given Broadland bulk wine at the best-possible prices, but also, potentially, in large quantities.

“People are running around in a market where there is no wine and I’ve just secured Australian and New Zealand bulk wine at the best price anyone can buy it… and Woolworths have said that we can have whatever we need,” he said.

Concluding, he stated, “It is a significant deal.”

This is the first major supply-side development for the business by Schaafsma, who joined Broadland on 25 September, having previously been CEO at Accolade Wines, the Australian company that owns global brands such as Hardys, Echo Falls and Kumala.

As reported by db last month, Schaafsma has hired three former Accolade employees as he readies Broadland for expansion, particularly when it comes to supplying the UK’s major multiple grocers, as well as through the development of branded wines.

“I’m trying to prepare for the New Year, because, if we are going to deal with big retail customers we need the people and skill-sets to interact with the supermarkets in an appropriate way – whether that’s from the marketing, trading, logistical or financial perspectives,” he said.

In a previous and exclusive interview with db, Schaafsma revealed his three-pronged development plan for Broadland Wineries, which was founded in 1965 as a wine importer and bottler supplying branded and private-label wines to the UK, and more recently the US and Nordic markets too.