Wine Business Archives

Vivino Raises $155 Million in Series D Funding

Vivino, the world’s most downloaded mobile wine app and largest online wine marketplace closed (this week) a $155m Series D funding round led by Swedish based investment firm Kinnevik with Sprints Capital accompanying as a new investor. Additional participants include GP Bullhound and existing early-stage investor Creandum. This latest round brings Vivino’s total funds raised to date to $221 million and includes a mix of primary and secondary investment.

Vivino currently boasts a community of 50 million wine enthusiasts, who turn to the platform for its personalized recommendations, unbiased rating system, and expansive selection of wines from more than 700 marketplace partners worldwide. The new capital will enable Vivino to improve its core technology and artificial intelligence platform to create better and more personalized recommendations for Vivino users. The company will also deepen its focus on select markets with the greatest potential for growth, including the US, Germany, the UK, Italy, Japan, and Portugal.

“This is a testament to the remarkable work that our teams around the globe have done to build an extraordinary business,” said Heini Zachariassen, Vivino’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This round has raised important capital for our rapidly growing company and drawn some exceptional new leaders to our board. The funding will enable us to continue to build on our core strengths, expand industry partnerships drawing more merchants and wineries to our marketplace, and support our continued global growth.”

Alcohol e-commerce sales worldwide have grown immensely, and it is estimated that by 2024, they will exceed $40 billion. Zachariassen credits the company’s growth to this continued shift in consumer behavior. “Our user retention rates are high, and we’re seeing a steady conversion of app users to wine buyers. That’s a good move in the right direction. By creating more value for our users, we also create more value for the company and industry at large.”

Since its Series C raise in February 2018, led by Vivino’s current board chairman, Christophe Navarre and former CEO and Chairman of Moët Hennessy, Vivino has increased its user base from 29 million to 50 million and has significantly grown its marketplace business, which connects wineries and wine merchants to its community. The company has posted a 100% annual growth rate for the last seven years and a 103% increase in year-over-year sales in 2020.

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Wines of Argentina Ends a “Successful Year”

Wines of Argentina (WofA) said it is well on its way to achieving the objectives set out in its business plan in August. The two-year plan centres on strengthening the global positioning of the country’s wine industry through digital marketing and generating business opportunities for its members.

It is focused on establishing a digital presence for Argentine wine (vino Argentino) “with much greater force”.

With Covid-19 curtailing travel opportunities, WofA has successful hosted over 50 digital events, reaching winemakers, educators, consumers and the trade, with the campaign particularly centred on the US and China.

In order to further strengthen its digital presence, WofA has partnered with software development company Globant. Globant will develop a digital global marketing strategy for WofA, adding technical capabilities and expertise to its offering.

Magdalena Pesce, marketing and communications manager at Wines of Argentina, states: “Digital tools have allowed us to consolidate the positioning of Argentine wine as never before, even in a highly atypical and challenging year. Our permanent commitment to education and digital communication has proven to be the way we must continue to be efficient in reaching different audiences around the world, effective in the use of our resources and, above all, mark a presence for Vino Argentino where international strategic audiences interact: digital ecosystems”.

It has also focused its attention on the Latin American market, particularly Brazil, Argentine wine’s third-largest market. WofA has carried out virtual events specifically targeted at the Brazilian market, including Virtual Business Round, which saw 28 wineries and 41 importers participate.

Training for Sommeliers Argentina 3D also hosted an educational program for somms based in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Paraguay. To strengthen its presence in the market, WofA launched a Spanish-language podcast focusing on the Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian and Paraguayan markets.

Maximiliano Hernández Toso, president of Wines of Argentina, said: “At WofA we are constantly looking for new languages and means of communication to strengthen the positioning of Vino Argentino and increase its distribution and sales at an international level. Currently, this means promoting the use of digital platforms and from this trend a business plan has been in development for 4 months and has already shown strong results. We are encouraged to continue betting on this trend to make the most of the infinite possibilities of the digital world to achieve a greater objective: to boost exports.”

Italy’s Campari Group to enter champagne sector with Lallier acquisition

The Campari Group is set to become the first Italian company to own a Champagne brand. Announced last week, Campari has entered into negotiations to acquire French company Ficoma, to acquire 80% of the shares of Champagne Lallier, and other group companies, with a view to total ownership. Campari’s shares ended up 2.9% after the announcement, outperforming a 1.7% gain in Milan’s blue-chip index.FTMIB.

Ficoma sold one million bottles of Champagne in 2019, including 700,000 bottles of Lallier.

If the negotiations lead to a sale, it will mark the entry of the first Italian player into the Champagne category.

Ficoma is the family holding of Francis Tribaut, the heir to four generations of winemakers and Champagne producers in France’s Marne region. The Champagne brand Lallier was founded in 1906 in Aÿ, one of the few villages classified as ‘Grand Cru’ in Champagne.

The potential transaction scope includes the brands, related stocks, and real estate assets including owned and operated vineyards, and production facilities.

Campari Group, founded in 1860, is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry, trading in more than 190 countries. Campari owns 21 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 21 countries.

The company’s growth strategy is to combine organic growth through strong brand building and external growth via selective acquisitions of brands and businesses.

The company has a portfolio of more than 50 premium and super-premium brands, including Aperol, Campari, SKYY, Grand Marnier, Wild Turkey and Appleton Estate.

Champagne Beau Joie announces a new partnership with fashion brand Marchesa

Champagne Beau Joie states this week that the partnership includes the release of 1,000 limited-edition “couture bottles”. The bottles, which are the first in the ‘Marchesa for Beau Joie’ series, will be hand-beaded and embroidered. They carry a price of US $599 per bottle.

The series will also include several new products that will be available through luxury retailers, hotels and high-end resorts, as well as through their website.

The bottles will be designed by Georgina Chapman, the creative director and co-founder of Marchesa, in collaboration with Brandis Deitelbaum, the founder of Beau Joie.

“Georgina and I were asking each other why there isn’t a Champagne brand that’s an extension of a fashion house, something for everyday occasions or served at special events. It’s such a natural fit, fashion and Champagne, yet nobody else has done this,” said Deitelbaum. “We both agreed there was a tremendous opportunity here for such a product, and so we decided to create it.”

Champagne Beau Joie website:

http://www.beaujoiechampagne.com/

My Interview with: Olga Bussinello, Director, Consorzio Valpolicella – Italy [Women in Wine Business]

March 8th is International Women’s Day and is a day to celebrate women’s achievements, past and present. March is also women’s history month, a time to note women in history, but also women making history.

Here is my interview with one such woman, Ms Olga Bussinello, the Managing Director of the Consortium of Valpolicella wine region.

The Consortium of Valpolicella was founded in 1924 and includes the growers, producers and bottlers and regulates every aspect of cultivation and winemaking, up to promotion. This great red wine from Verona has shown a positive trend at the guidance of Ms. Bussinello. At year end 2015 it reached a turnover of 310 million euros (a 6% increase over the previous year); and where six out of ten bottles are exported.

Q How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?

A I have had very diverse yet complementary life and work experiences. After graduating in law I worked in both public bodies and in private companies, changing workplaces and cities up until six years ago when I began my adventure as Director of the Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella. The flexibility and courage to understand when my career path had to change direction are what have made me grow.

Q How has your previous employment experience aided your position at Consorzio Valpolicella?

A Mainly the period I spent working in the world of agricultural associations in Rome where I got to comprehend the complexity of the relations among the various players in a production chain. Even if there are common goals, drawing together the farming world and the industrial sector is extremely difficult.

Q What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Consorzio Valpolicella?

A While the wines have become famous by now, instead, Valpolicella—as in the production area—is not very well known as a rural landscape. Having people get to know its genuine beauty and the history of its places is a very important challenge. Naturally, even for that which concerns the wines you have to work to keep the demand and the appeal of Amarone and the other products of the Valpolicella high.

Q How do you maintain a work/life balance?

A You have to reserve the same amount of attention and sensibility to work and family to establish your daily priorities. Work, just like family, is a creature and in a certain sense we have to take care of it. I do owe a lot to my husband who has always supported me and taken my place with my daughters so that I could be relaxed as I dealt with more difficult engagements.

Q What do you think are the biggest issues for women in the wine industry?

A The same as in the other industries: the difficulty of covering roles that historically belong to men, the stress of having to demonstrate that you’re always perfect, the inability to form a team with other women. This is the generation which, first and foremost, has to fight stereotypes and ancestral insecurities to prepare the way for the generations to come.

Q Which other female leaders do you admire and why?

A Many, citing just a few would be doing a disservice to the others. I like women who focus in well on their role and therefore manage to work in a team. The individualism that has to do with being used to facing many things alone can become a limitation in one’s personal and career growth path.

Q What do you want Consorzio Valpolicella to accomplish over the next year?

A I would like to fine-tune a format of wine and territory presentation that I am already working on, which brings out the differences between the terroirs and company styles.

Q What do you love most about your position as Director for Consorzio Valpolicella?

A The relationship with the member companies, going to the vineyards and the wineries, understanding the history of each and building new projects with them.

Q What is your advice for other women entrepreneurs?

A Don’t ever lose your enthusiasm for your work and think of each difficulty as a challenge that will help you grow

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