The recently-combined wine assets of Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard are the subject of a consolidatory review by their current incarnation, Vinarchy.
The company, which came into being this week when the acquisition by Accolade’s ownership of most of Pernod Ricard’s wine brands completed, was reported on Wednesday (30 April) as having primed a “cull [of] dozens of brands”. A news article on Australia’s Financial Review website cited company chair Ben Clarke as saying the current footprint of around 150 brands would be pared back to “about 100”.
“We can see a few waves getting it to about 100,” Clarke was quoted as saying by AFR. “Obviously, it’s a global business and we will do it by geography and by brand.
Global Drinks Intel understands that the brands that are likely to go are those that have not been successful for either Accolade or Pernod Ricard, and account for around 4% of the new group’s overall sales. Vinarchy expects the review process to run for between 12 and 18 months.
The company, owned by a five-strong group of institutional investment firms, has banded its portfolio into five groupings – Global Pillars, Growth Drivers, Future Stars, Fine Wine and Local Brands. The global pillar brands, which “straddle multiple regions and markets”, are Campo Viejo, Hardys and Jacob’s Creek. The growth drivers segment contains Accolade’s Jam Shed and Mud House brands alongside six others, including Pernod Ricard’s Brancott Estate.
Twenty marks make up its local brands stable, which include the more-affordable Banrock Station, Echo Falls and Kumala brands. A total of 40 brand are named on Vinarchy’s newly-launched website.
Three months ago, Treasury Wine Estates abandoned its intention to divest a slew of its “commercial” wines, saying that the offers it had received “did not represent compelling value”. In mid-April, however, Constellation secured its exit from what it called the “mainstream” wine segment, agreeing a sale of an unspecified number of marks to The Wine Group in the US.
The Wine Group described the transaction as featuring “several popular, premium, and ultra-premium brands”.
