By Andy Young
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) is adding a French wine portfolio to its stable, which the company hopes will drive global growth with an initial focus on North Asia.
The new portfolio will include three tiers of wines, including Bordeaux, Burgundy and Châteauneuf du Pape reds, Rosé from Provence and Champagne. The company said that while North Asia will be the initial destination for the portfolio, there are plans to market and sell the portfolio across other regions of the world in F18 and beyond.
With French wine still being by far the most popular in China, TWE’s Chief Executive Michael Clarke said that this additional portfolio will help embed greater sustainability, discipline and balance across all four regional business models.
“We have been investing behind the brands that can deliver growth on a global scale for our business with stronger marketing activity to drive consumer demand across all of our regions.
“We’ve also spent time refreshing and ‘fixing’ many of our brands, with a number of our Californian wine brands recently undergoing packaging refreshes including Beaulieu Vineyard, Sterling Vineyards and Beringer,” Clarke said.
“French wine is now an exciting new addition to our portfolio offering, and will be one of our important launches in F18. While the French category is very established globally and regarded as a quality trustmark, particularly in North Asia, we will bring a ‘new world’ mentality to marketing and selling this wine.”
He added: “We have taken a very disciplined approach to fixing and growing our business models and brand portfolios, but our journey is far from over. We’ve set the business up for long-term, sustainable success, while continuing to preserve the scarcity and value of our wines globally.
“The new French portfolio plays an important role in our strategy, as we look forward to continuing to deliver value for our shareholders.”