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Looking ahead: Matt Tipping, Jeroboams

We continue our series with insights from Matt Tipping, CEO, Jeroboams  

How ‘back to normal’ are you as a business? 

We’ve evolved as a business, so we will never be back to how we were pre-Covid. Our business has three main routes to market; our shops, our trade team and our private client team, each contributing an equal amount to the company. We have seen the respective level of demand for each channel normalising. However, our average spend and number of transactions in our shops are settling at levels higher than pre-Covid, and our investment in our Trade team (we doubled the team size in 2021) has resulted in remarkable growth in the last 12 months.  

How, if at all, have drinking habits changed post-lockdown? 

The forced shift in everyone’s routines during the pandemic certainly made many people re-evaluate which habits they wanted to change. One result of this, which we’ve seen across all our routes to market, is the desire from customers to experiment with different wines and/or to treat themselves. In our shops, it has led to customers adding on a bottle of something more esoteric to their normal purchases or adding a more expensive bottle than their usual budget. Our Trade team’s customers are now buying more fine wine from us (often taking advantage of the ability to purchase single bottles from us) to satisfy this new demand in their establishments, and our travel retail customers are seeing a higher level of consumption as people treat themselves to breaks away. Our private client team have sold more German wine in the last 12 months than in any previous 12-month period. Our Piedmont offer this year surpassed all previous records, with Francophiles looking for quality outside Burgundy. 

How has the first half of 2022 been when compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019? 

The last six years have been a transformational change for Jeroboams, and that pace hasn’t slowed. So, the short answer when comparing 2019 to 2022 is that it is very different! Of course, we traded well over both periods, but as a business, we are ahead of where we were in 2019. 

What were the highs and lows for your own business in the first six months of 2022? 

Whilst it may not be fashionable to say this out loud, we had a good Bordeaux 2021 en primeur campaign, with sales within 80% of those we saw with the 2020 vintage. In addition, we began our new partnership with Virgin Atlantic Upper Class which is hugely exciting for our Trade team and business. However, we also had frustrations for the business, not least a difficult potential landlord, which resulted in us having to walk away from an exciting new shop site. Luckily, we have some more sites up our sleeve! 

What, currently, are the biggest challenges for the trade in general? 

This has to be the macro-economic factors combined to make it a pretty uncertain time to be in business. High inflation and its impact on demand are yet to play out fully. However, I don’t think it is all doom and gloom, uncertainty creates opportunity, and in more challenging times, people want to relax to find experiences they enjoy. Our industry is perfectly placed to offer that to them.   

What are your priorities and predictions business-wise for the second half of 2022? 

We have a superb portfolio tasting in September with our private and our trade customers (events@jeroboams.co.uk). Helping those who have filled our three newly-created roles find their feet – ensuring that Christmas is planned with military precision! 

What will the focus be on concerning your portfolio and why? 

We’ve added a significant number of new agencies to our portfolio in the last couple of years: we have a clear and considerable growth plan for the business, so more wine has been needed. Our focus now is to ensure the wines from Kelly Washington, Oldenburg, Port Phillip, Gunther Steinmetz and Altavins, to name but a few, see growth through all our channels so they can grow alongside us and be long-term partners of Jeroboams (like Moss Wood, Hunter’s and Castello dei Rampolla). 

What are the most significant emerging trends in the wine & spirits worlds? 

Sustainability is, of course, not an emerging trend, but it is a trend which is increasing exponentially. Everything from packaging to sustainable production to sustainable practices for the merchant selling the product is now, quite rightly, under the microscope. The reality of this summer’s weather across Europe will only add to the speed at which this trend develops.  

What innovations in the drinks world do you believe will impact the most in the future? 

The experience everyone has had over the last few years and its impact on mental and physical health, combined with the competition in the jobs market (where other industries are all competing for the best people), means that wellbeing is no longer something which our sector can view as a lesser priority. Instead, it will significantly impact how the industry is viewed, and only by recruiting the best people and retaining them can other innovations be successfully devised and implemented. I’d also take this opportunity to highlight the amazing work that The Drinks Trust have been doing in this area, as well as their Wellbeing Champions programme, whereby they are offering companies in the industry the opportunity to learn new skills and ensure higher levels of understanding of these issues in their businesses. 

Lastly, if you could make one change in legislation/red tape/tax tomorrow, what would you choose?  

It’s admittedly not one simple change, but overall, I’d love to see a significant and immediate change in the red tape involved in importing wine. The process is complicated, slow and massively inefficient. Unnecessarily so.  

Quick-fire questions: 

France, Spain or Italy? France 

USA, OZ or South Africa? South Africa 

Cocktails or slow sipping spirit? Cocktail 

English fizz or Champagne? Champagne 

Go-to drink to watch the tennis / football / rugby? Wild Beer’s Rolling Pils

• LOOKING AHEAD
• Jeroboams
• Matt Tipping