By James Wells
New Zealand based Yealands Wine Group will increase the focus on its Babydoll sub-brand with broader distribution into off-premise liquor stores.
Yealands Wine Group global marketing manager, Avram Deitch told TheShout the sub-brand represents a strong growth opportunity for the business.
“We are spending more time this year talking about Babydoll – it is a great brand that is part of the Yealands story. The Babydoll sheep wander through the vineyards and eat the grass, but are a little bit too short to reach the grapes.
“It is a great story and people really love it – the consumer response to that brand has just been phenomenal everywhere we have had it,” Deitch said.
“We are positioning Babydoll alongside the Peter Yealands brand, but with a different style and a different offering. We have retained the same quality of focus on the winemaking, and we will be releasing a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Merlot and a Rose. There may even be a Sparkling wine in the works.
“The other thing I love about Babydoll is that while we have had this wine only in the on-premise market, there have been a lot of enquiries from consumers. Of the 60 customer enquiries we received in one month, 53 were about where they could buy Babydoll. As a result, it has now become available in the off-premise for both the Australian and New Zealand markets.
"We only started this business in 2008 and we have had an incredible run since then. But by being a young company, there is still a whole heap of opportunity we see in the market.”
Earlier this year, Yealands appointed Adrian Garforth MW as CEO to replace Jason Judkins.