Traditional logistics suppliers see opportunities in serving the wine trade

By Erin Smith

Published: 30 June, 2016

Increasingly, national logistical suppliers are looking at the opportunities to meet the need of customers within the wine industry and could ultimately improve supply chain offerings as more players enter the market.

International logistic supplier DHL has been investing heavily in meeting the demands of the alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages industries and has built a team specific to looking after clients called Tradeteam.

Just last week the company announced it "has invested in a new 200,000 sq ft warehousing facility in Gloucester as part of its continued expansion in the market. The new fully bonded warehouse will serve as a regional distribution hub for customers in the south of England, increasing capacity and enhancing efficiency to support in delivering for new and established customers."

James Gill, managing director at Tradeteam, said: "These exciting business wins represent the future of our business and demonstrate our commitment to redefining the drinks logistics market across the UK."

The investments are paying off as Tradeteam is picking up a number of new clients such as Carlsberg UK, Cellar Trends and Trust Inns.

UK Carlsberg announced it would no longer be running it own distribution services in the UK and would be transitioning the remainder of its in house supply chain to DHL Tradeteam over the next two years.

A subsidiary of the US-based United Parcel Service, called UPS Capital, launched UPS Customised Declare Value for Wine in France after all already launching similar programme in Italy. The service offers packaging consultation and custom pricing for shipping.

UPS also announced this week that it would be making a record investment of more than $100m in a new facility that is set to open in the first quarter of 2018.

The company focused on France as country exported more than 138 million cases of last year.

As more logistics companies look at the wine trade as an opportunity to offer better services, customers may benefit as competition increases.

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