By James Atkinson
Treasury Wine Estates is strategically focusing on lifting the profile of several of its smaller brands, including Saltram, Wynns and Coldstream Hills, according to Simon Marton, managing director of the company's Wolf Blass brand business unit.
At this week's Saltram event in the Barossa Valley, Marton told TheShout that while the "engine room" of Treasury will continue to be its five foundation brands – Wolf Blass, Lindemans, Rosemount, Penfolds and Beringer – some of the smaller wine producers it owns are "legends or benchmarks in the industry".
"We need to leverage that, so we are strategically focusing on several of our smaller producers, which almost run like little family businesses within our broader business," he said. [continues below]
Simon Marton, managing director of TWE's Wolf Blass brand business unit
Marton said the new strategy will include an increased export focus for brands including Saltram, Metala, Wynns, Coldstream Hills, Devil's Lair and Annie's Lane.
"A lot of our small regional premium brands have really only been sold in Australia for the last 15 to 20 years," he said.
"There's a thirst now for fine wine from Australia, particularly on the red wine side, and particularly in markets like Asia."
Earlier, Marton told journalists at Saltram Wine Estate in the Barossa Valley that the new strategy was evidenced in the company's substantial recent investments in Saltram and Wynns' cellar doors, as well as the continual rejuvenation of the estate vineyard.
"What's different now with Treasury, to what we had over the last ten years, is there's a love for all brands – they're all important to us," he said.
"We're really going to give it a good crack to make them all work. That's different to how we might have been thinking in the past."
the may want to push these brands along,but as a retailer i deleted these brands years ago along with most of treasures wines. now concentrate on my liquor stax brands that give me a great margin and the chains can’t sell below my cost price ,nor can they range them
Having spent 9 years in the chinese market I can CERTIFY the interest in Austarlian wines mentioned by Marton.
We need to set up a strategy to “crack” the distribution. The wines CAN find their way to the retail through exposure in the Hotel/Restaurant segment. But probably you will prefer entry in retail (China btw also offers good small wine speciality stores, thaw we used to frequent to get our wine while living there).)