Australia must stop ¡®mindless chase of listings¡¯
Date£º
2014-04-15 11:24 Source£º
thedrinksbusiness Author:
Gabriel Savage Translator:
Tesco has expressed concern about the ¡°homogenisation¡± among Australia¡¯s major wine brands, calling for them to work harder at standing out from the crowd.
At a time when Australia¡¯s overall volume exports fell by 6% during 2013, Tesco¡¯s wine product development manager James Griswood told the drinks business that the country still remained ¡°the most popular¡± source of wine among customers.
Nevertheless, he expressed concern at the lack of diversity offered by some of Australia¡¯s largest, most mainstream names. ¡°The biggest issue is the homogenisation between the key Australian brands,¡± warned Griswood. ¡°They are all sitting in a very similar price, variety, style and quality area.¡±
Arguing that ¡°none have any real, tangible differences that give them a unique positioning,¡± he flagged this up as a reason why ¡°consumer spending is highly transferable between the brands.¡±
Griswood¡¯s comments come shortly after John Angove, managing director of Angove Family Winemakers expressed concern at the strategy currently employed by Australia¡¯s largest producers.
¡°I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing,¡± he told db, suggesting: ¡°One of the key issues in the Australian wine industry at the moment is that it¡¯s the mid-sized family owned companies who are keeping the industry going.¡±
While confirming the ¡°core appeal¡± of Australia¡¯s ¡°classic duo of Chardonnay and Shiraz¡± for Tesco consumers, Griswood observed: ¡°If Australia is to maintain its position as the consumer¡¯s favourite wine producing country then it needs to drive a higher level of loyalty.¡±
In his view, ¡°this can only be achieved if the key brands focus more on developing the essence of what makes their brand unique, and less to a mindless chase of listings and distribution.¡± At the moment, Griswood remarked, ¡°some are doing this better than others.¡±