PETER HALL ON LINDEMANS
Lindemans of Foster’s Group has witnessed phenomenal growth in the U.S. as of late with rising sales and increased brand awareness – but where is the success coming from? WSD sat down with Peter Hall, VP of marketing, Foster’s Wine Estates Americas to get to the bottom of it.
In the 4-weeks ending July 29, Lindemans was up a whopping 17.2% in volume and 8.7% for the 52 week period. Clearly no problems there. Peter chalks up the high growth to a number of factors, such as launching more varietals in the U.S. and offering a premium wine for a lower price unit. Lindemans Bin 65 chardonnay is recognized for its “quality and high-value,” said Peter, noting that Wine Spectator has awarded Bin 65 the highly coveted Best Buy in multiple vintages. Publicity like that has helped Lindemans “grow in brand awareness,” according to a study.
In on-premise accounts like Outback Steakhouse, Bin 66 has climbed steadily upwards along with help from off-premise growth at big box and grocery. Drug stores, on the other hand, account for little – possibly stemming from higher gas costs.
“People are making fewer although larger shopping trips to save on gas,” said Peter, “and are tending to stay at home instead of going out.”
Studies show that younger adults tend to shop more at big box retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Super Target, which may be another driver of millennial interest in Lindemans, one of their biggest demographics. “We target all demographics pretty evenly but tend to see higher growth in millennials and the more mature groups,” said Peter. No surprise here since millennials are drinking more wine than ever, right up there with the baby boomers.
With trends like that, “I really think we’ll see growth in wine over the next 20 to 25 years,” said Peter.
When asked how Foster’s is able to compete with Constellation’s growing scale, Peter pointed out that although the company ranks in size behind Constellation, E & J Gallo and Wine Group, no one is larger than Foster’s in the $5 up category. Furthermore, Foster’s already has scale.
“In the past several years Foster’s has made several big acquisitions, including Beringer Vineyards and Southcorp – which is where Lindemans came from,” said Peter.
The company prefers to focus on their premium, upper scale wine brands instead of rolling out things like boxed wine.
Overall, Peter has high hopes for the U.S. wine industry. However, one of the biggest challenges for the industry, he believes, is to prevent it from turning into the “American automobile industry.” To keep from doing so, two key strategies are “innovation and diversification.” Wine companies must avoid making all wine products look and taste the same, and offer consumers a wine aisle full of choices.
In the 4-weeks ending July 29, Lindemans was up a whopping 17.2% in volume and 8.7% for the 52 week period. Clearly no problems there. Peter chalks up the high growth to a number of factors, such as launching more varietals in the U.S. and offering a premium wine for a lower price unit. Lindemans Bin 65 chardonnay is recognized for its “quality and high-value,” said Peter, noting that Wine Spectator has awarded Bin 65 the highly coveted Best Buy in multiple vintages. Publicity like that has helped Lindemans “grow in brand awareness,” according to a study.
In on-premise accounts like Outback Steakhouse, Bin 66 has climbed steadily upwards along with help from off-premise growth at big box and grocery. Drug stores, on the other hand, account for little – possibly stemming from higher gas costs.
“People are making fewer although larger shopping trips to save on gas,” said Peter, “and are tending to stay at home instead of going out.”
Studies show that younger adults tend to shop more at big box retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Super Target, which may be another driver of millennial interest in Lindemans, one of their biggest demographics. “We target all demographics pretty evenly but tend to see higher growth in millennials and the more mature groups,” said Peter. No surprise here since millennials are drinking more wine than ever, right up there with the baby boomers.
With trends like that, “I really think we’ll see growth in wine over the next 20 to 25 years,” said Peter.
When asked how Foster’s is able to compete with Constellation’s growing scale, Peter pointed out that although the company ranks in size behind Constellation, E & J Gallo and Wine Group, no one is larger than Foster’s in the $5 up category. Furthermore, Foster’s already has scale.
“In the past several years Foster’s has made several big acquisitions, including Beringer Vineyards and Southcorp – which is where Lindemans came from,” said Peter.
The company prefers to focus on their premium, upper scale wine brands instead of rolling out things like boxed wine.
Overall, Peter has high hopes for the U.S. wine industry. However, one of the biggest challenges for the industry, he believes, is to prevent it from turning into the “American automobile industry.” To keep from doing so, two key strategies are “innovation and diversification.” Wine companies must avoid making all wine products look and taste the same, and offer consumers a wine aisle full of choices.
posted at 2:43 PM
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