10 Biggest Takeaways From the IBWSS 2018 Event in London

For anyone looking to grow their private label, bulk wine or bulk spirits business, the International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show (IBWSS) was the place to be this year. The two-day event, which took place at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London on February 26-27, had buyers attending from top retail chains in the UK. The conference sessions offered a comprehensive overview of how to create the right product for the industry, provided insights into growing a profitable business, and included plenty of actionable advice for optimizing a bulk wine, spirits and private label business for future success.

Here are the 10 biggest takeaways from the event…

#1: The UK bulk wine industry is truly global in scope

One big theme that emerged from the IBWSS event was the global nature of the bulk wine industry. That’s good news for UK retailers, who now have the ability to source wine in bulk from just about any wine-producing nation in the world. The global nature of the bulk wine industry was on full display at IBWSS 2018, as exhibitors gathered from all the world, including some from as far away as Australia.

#2: Bulk wine now accounts for nearly one-half of all wine sold in the UK

As Neil Anderson of Kingsland Drinks pointed out at the event, it’s time for retailers to stop apologizing for the bulk wine industry. Instead, they should be celebrating the popularity of bulk wines, which now account for nearly 50 percent of all wine sold in the UK. Retailers now have the option of importing high-quality bulk wines from Italy and Spain instead of importing bottled wines from those same destinations, and at a significantly lower price point.

#3: Private labels are the key to the future success of the bulk wine business model

Another key topic of discussion at the event was the growth of private label wines on the retail shelves of supermarkets and other retailers. Even on-premises establishments are embracing private labels. These private labels sometimes have more marketing and branding behind them than do traditional wines, which is what makes them so attractive to the consumer. These consumers respond to stories and narratives, and the very best private labels come with their own branding and stories.

#4: Social responsibility is an important new theme for the wine business

One way for emerging winemakers to win over new customers is by embracing the principles of social responsibility. One of the speakers at the event, Stylianos Filopoulos of Wine in Moderation (WIM), talked about the need for retailers and winemakers to understand the role they play in getting wine drinkers to embrace the concept of “wine in moderation.” This is an important social responsibility theme, and there are many more themes that winemakers can embrace. For example, eco-sustainability is an important new concept that resonates with winemakers, since being able to buy an organic wine is very important for some consumers.

#5: The single best way to achieve growth is by listening to your consumers

Just a decade ago, it might have been possible for importers, distributors and retailers to sell wines to consumers that they thought would be popular or considered to be important. But those days are over – it is the consumer who is now king. At a Day 2 panel discussion, participants discussed the need to listen to the consumer. It is often possible to predict changing tastes in advance, and one way to get early notice of changing trends is by listening to the consumer. Which wines are they asking for when they walk into your store? What are they talking about on social media? Are they mentioning new wine regions?

#6: The unique regulatory environment for bulk wines will determine their ultimate profitability

On Day 1 of the event, David Richardson of the WSTA discussed the regulatory issues specific to bulk products vs. cased goods. There are many cost savings possible with bulk wine shipping, but in order to lock in as many of these price advantages as possible, it’s important to have a very firm understanding of regulatory issues specific to bulk shipping.

#7: Quality control is still an important factor in the bulk wine shipping model

While the overall quality of bulk wines has been steadily increasing, importers, distributors and retailers still need to understand the basics of quality control. The goal should be ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality wine that consumers will be able to trust. In fact, one of the speakers on Day 2 of the event, Geoff Taylor of Campden BRI labs, discussed the quality challenges facing the bulk wine industry.

#8: Bulk wines are good for the bottom line

The leading reason to embrace the bulk wine industry is to improve overall profitability. Not only are you reducing shipping and transactional costs with bulk wines, you can then transform that bulk wine into a premium product with higher margins, thanks to private labels.

#9: Private labels represent an important point of branding differentiation in a crowded marketplace

While private labels are undeniably good for the bottom line, they also play another key role: they enable retailers and on-premises establishments to differentiate themselves from their competitors. For example, a retailer offering popular private label brands can stand out from other competitors and become the “go to” place to shop.

#10: Trends in the global bulk market continue to evolve

Unlike the traditional bottled wine market, in which some wine regions have historically been very dominant, the global bulk wine market is much more fluid and diverse. Bulk wine regions can fall in and out of favor for a multitude of reasons. For example, South Africa has emerged as a new bulk wine favorite in Europe due to seasonality factors. And, since shipping costs are so important to the bulk wine model, it’s important for wine-producing nations to create very flexible supply chains capable of reaching important markets such as the UK. These important ideas were elaborated on at greater length by Florian Ceschi of Ciatti Europe, who shared his company’s new Global Bulk Market Report.

#11: Every retailer is different when it comes to choosing private label and bulk wine suppliers

On Day 1 of the IBWSS event, Clive Donaldson of Wm Morrison Supermarkets emphasized the importance of understanding what retailer are really looking for in private and bulk suppliers. It is not a case of “one-size-fits-all.” Some retailers, for example, may be looking for a way to reduce their shipping expenses. Some may be looking for a way to boost margins. And still others might simply be looking for a way to diversify their wine offerings to consumers.

#12: Building a dialogue with each player in the global wine supply chain is now critical

As many speakers at IBWSS mentioned, it is absolutely critical to keep open lines of communication throughout the global wine supply chain. For example, retailers need to be talking with customers, importers need to be talking to distributors, and distributers need to be talking to manufacturers. These relationships are particularly important, as Clem Yates of Off-Piste Wines pointed out on Day 1 of the event. That’s because private label brands can be viewed as a potential threat by traditional wine suppliers. It is the job of the distributor to minimize any perception of channel conflict, and to position these new private label brands as an opportunity, not a threat.

Throughout the two-day IBWSS event, participants discussed these issues both formally and informally. They had a chance to talk one-and-one with both the high-profile set of speakers giving presentations and the many global exhibitors on the show floor of the Royal Horticultural Halls. Participants involved in the bulk wine, spirits and private label industry were able to walk away with a very actionable plan for success.

The next IBWSS event will take place in San Francisco on July 25-26, 2018. Interested to grow your bulk wine, bulk spirits, private label or contract bottling business in USA, then get involved with IBWSS San Francisco.