FRANCE. Travel retail has this year played a key role in driving revenue growth for Accolade Wines.
That’s according to the wine company’s General Manager Travel Retail and EMEA Sales Director Martin MacKinnon, who presented an update on their travel retail financial performance during the recently held TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.
MacKinnon highlighted that travel retail volume growth is tracking at +9% so far in 2024, outpacing that of Accolade Wines’ overall business.
He said: “Thanks to some great partnerships with customers and our strong travel retail brands, our revenue numbers are in very good shape. The wine category remains under pressure across most of our key domestic markets, although our own domestic business continues to perform very strongly in the face of economic challenges.
“Consumers continue to grapple with cost-of-living pressures, so tough choices on where to spend disposable income means wine category growth is flat or in slight decline in key regions.
“With this in mind, like our domestic teams, our great travel retail team has achieved a very encouraging financial performance in the channel this year so far, driven by organic growth and new listings across airports, border stores and airline tender wins.”
MacKinnon underlined the company’s focus on expanding travel retail in regions where the company already has a strong domestic presence.
He cited two recent examples of travel retail listings success in the Asia Pacific region, including the company’s home market of Australia, where its Virgin Atlantic business is excelling. In addition, the Grant Burge, Petaluma and St Hallet wine ranges have secured listings with Qantas across both domestic and international routes.
Accolade Wines has expanded its partnership with Cathay Pacific to include St Hallet and Rolf Binder wine ranges for economy, business and first-class passengers. This follows a prior listing of Grant Burge wines with the airline.
MacKinnon commented: “Here in Europe, we have a super strong travel retail business in UK airports and in all the routes in and around the English Channel. This supports our category leadership position in the UK, where we are investing heavily in activations at UK airports in Q4 with our Da Luca Prosecco and on UK ferry routes with Remastered.
“We also have strong coverage in travel retail across key markets in Europe, and we are pleased to have a great offer in place in the Middle East, particularly in Dubai Duty Free. Through recent business reviews we have increased our offering in airports to reflect different varietals and the trend for premiumisation with our fine wine offering.”
At the Cannes show, Accolade Wines showcased its key brands and product innovations.
Channel Sales Director EMEA Jeff Bond said: “Our focus for travel retail has remained consistent for a number of years, concentrating on our core portfolio of Hardys, Mud House, Da Luca and premium lines.
“This remains as the base strategy, but we are introducing more disruptive expressions from the Old-World such as Remastered, a twist on classic Italian wine with an eye-catching design that stands out on shelf and is competitively priced to draw younger shoppers into the wine category.
“Similarly, Wise Wolf continues to perform well domestically and we are about to launch a fourth varietal, a French Sauvignon Blanc to the range.”
As part of its sustainability initiatives, Accolade Wines has enhanced its portfolio with The Minibox series, which features 1.5-litre boxed wines from leading brands such as Jam Shed, Mud House and Hardys, with future offerings in the pipeline.
The updated Minibox range is -27% smaller than previous versions, resulting in a 3kg decrease in plastic per pallet. In addition, the packaging is -80% lighter than the equivalent of two traditional glass wine bottles.
Bond added: “This boxed wine experience offers a more sustainable way of consuming wine, removing the need to use bottles. We expect this to be a popular series in travel retail, especially with our cross-channel customers, targeting environmentally conscious consumers with some of our best-known and loved wines.”
The Cannes exhibit also highlighted the launch of Dolly Wines in partnership with global country-singing superstar Dolly Parton.
As reported, the new offering includes a Prosecco and a French Rosé.
It was released in September in domestic markets and will be rolled out in global travel retail in the first quarter of 2025.
Bond noted that the partnership with the much-loved singer-songwriter has already generated over 3 million social media impressions, contributing to strong early momentum for the Dolly Wines brand. ✈
