Ehrmanns 'galvanised and recharged' by recent changes

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 11 September, 2014

Wine supplier Ehrmanns has had a "lively" few months, but says recent changes have left it "galvanised and recharged" and looking to the future with confidence.

Since spring 2014 the company has seen the departure of senior staff members, new recruits added to the team and changes to its portfolio. But director Hugo Campbell told Harpers.co.uk: "The process has galvanised and recharged us - we are just looking ahead. We don't reflect on it or want to be distracted by it."

One major recent upheaval has been to its Chilean portfolio. Ehrmanns has had a strong reputation for South American wines since the early 1990s. Most recently it worked with Luis Felipe Edwards - which has since moved to new outfit North South Wines. It has now added Santa Carolina, formerly handled by Diageo's Percy Fox, to its portfolio. Ehrmanns director Hugo Campbell said the companies had "quite a lot of crossover in terms of positioning and mutual respect and trust". "It's a very exciting opportunity - both parties have the chance to effect a change and really drive Santa Carolina as a brand and producer in a very competitive market."

According to Santa Carolina's export director Christian Wylie, the UK is currently only its sixth largest export market, while for many Chilean brands it is number two or three. Both sides would like to grow its UK business, but admit it will be a slow process, with Campbell saying they are working to a five-year target.

Wylie told Harpers.co.uk: "We had a very good relationship with Percy Fox - it was quite close and very strategic. We went after the UK in a very successful way right before the crisis. But we got hit hard in Chile by the earthquake, and there were some very bad returns across the business. We had to walk away from a lot of business - with Greene King and Tesco and others. We said Santa Carolina is a big producer with a big portfolio - we want to work across all levels and price points. We've been very proactive and have a lot of new research projects. All of that was a little bit different from what Percy Fox/Diageo could or wanted to handle. We had a very honest conversation with them and left Antares with them."

The search for a new agent was about finding someone more in the wine world than the retail world, and Wylie had known Ehrmanns for a long time. "They seemed to be coming out from a couple of tricky issues in the past, and we suited each other well," he says. Add to that that Ehrmanns was just working itself out of an "intricate deal" with Luis Felipe Edwards, and the timing seemed perfect, Wylie said.

To find out more about Chile, read our country report here.

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