Welcome to our first Brand Team update newsletter for 2024.
We especially appreciate your time on the cusp of our industry’s most important and busiest time of the year. Wishing you all the very best for Vintage 2024.
We are listening
To those of you who participated in our 2023 NZW Member Survey and specifically provided feedback on our Brand activities – thank you for helping us to continue to improve.
We aim to keep you informed and provide you with timely information. We appreciate you are busy, and your time is valuable.
NZ Wine Brand Team News channels
Brand Team newsletter - delves a little deeper into our global-focused initiatives (frequency Quarterly February | June | September | December) What’s Fermenting newsletter (frequency: Monthly) Being respectful of your ‘inbox’ is paramount, so if you’re interested in short messages and reminders - please bookmark our Facebook Group - NZ Wine Altogether Unique Community.
Recent Activity
Today’s newsletter summarises our team’s activities since our November newsletter. It may appear that the NZW brand team is conducting fewer activities than in past years, but our focused approach is working your dollars harder. As an example, in our Global PR section below you can read about the excellent coverage and strong media value being achieved for New Zealand Wine on a lean budget. With Exports down 24% YTD, this is directly reflected in our levy income. Like you, we’re all in the same boat and focused on priorities to invest in and what to pause, delay, or discontinue.
Hear from our Market Managers
At the start of the calendar year, the UK/Europe team has just concluded the ever-popular London and Dublin Annual Trade tasting. This is a tried and tested platform over decades for wineries and their in-market partners to connect with trade and media. Chris and Sarah have done us proud yet again with fantastic feedback from participants and guests, as shown below in the strong media coverage achieved. Also, read on for updates from the wider team.
Webinar tomorrow – Unlocking Insights: Taking the Pulse of the New Zealand Wine Consumer
We are looking forward to welcoming over 200 members to tomorrow’s webinar. If you haven’t yet registered you can do so here.
Our focus on Intel and Insights is showing fabulous participation from across our membership. Thank you in advance for your support, and please continue to share with us what topics you’d like us to focus on for future sessions. Feel free to contact me directly via email.
We have some great topics and speakers in the pipeline, and planning is well underway for our second Wine Business Forum in August. Watch this space for details soon...
I look forward to connecting with many of you tomorrow. If you are unable to join us, we have extensive information on the member’s website under ‘Market Intel’. There you will find market-specific resources including Guides to Markets and Consumer Information, Pricing Calculators, Webinar recordings, and up-to-the-minute articles of interest.
Finally we are thrilled to welcome back to the Brand Team, Carolina Paiva, as our Events Manager reporting into Sarah Szostak, Events Lead.
Kia kaha
Charlotte Read (GM Brand)
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Global PR Programme
The Global PR Programme aims to build preference and frequency of mention for New Zealand Wine through the delivery of high-quality PR programmes in our key markets through targeted earned PR and activations in market, as well as the execution of visits to New Zealand by international media. As international guests arrive on our shores in-market pitching continues, to ensure the New Zealand Wine story is constantly securing column inches in key markets and publications. Click here to view the Global PR Update.
NZW hosted international media in New Zealand
In January, NZW leveraged the personal visits of 2 UK media targets – Susy Atkins and Libby Brodie. Being able to host these 2 media targets whilst they were already in New Zealand was a cost-effective way of sharing the New Zealand Wine story across a variety of publications and different audiences.
Libby Brodie is City A.M.’s dedicated wine columnist, freelance writer, wine presenter, and social media content creator. NZW supported Libby’s three-day visit to Marlborough where she focused on exploring Marlborough in its 50th year and Marlborough’s wine tourism offerings, whilst also ensuring the wineries visited were also available in the UK market.
Susy Atkins produces a regular wine column for The Telegraph UK, is the wine and drinks editor of Delicious magazine, contributes to Decanter, and co-hosts events with the Three Wine Men (Oz Clarke, Tim Atkin, and Olly Smith). NZW supported Susy’s four-day visit to Central Otago which was her first time to the region. While in the region, Susy visited wineries that currently had a wine presence in the UK market, as well as wineries that had a wine tourism offering for a wine tourism piece.
The New Zealand Wine Story
NZW’s PR strategy to drive frequency of mention of our premium New Zealand Wine in our key markets and working with ‘NZ Inc’ is paying dividends, reaching 88.9 million people and generating an EAV of $3.5 million NZD for the period July 2023 – to date. A summary of the key stats can be found here.
You can see the rest of the coverage generated from the NZW Global PR Programme here.
For information about NZW’s Global PR Programme, please contact Global PR Manager, Juliana Foster(juliana.foster@nzwine.com).
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Global Markets
The Blind Tasting – Varietal Summaries & Notes on Scoring
The Varietal Summaries produced by Emma Jenkins MW are now available, along with additional information on the scoring approach of The Blind Tasting for members who submitted their wines.
The Varietal Summaries detail the “state of play” across our varieties, encompassing varietal development and trends, as well as regional, subregional, vintage, and stylistic themes. In 2023, The Blind Tasting spanned 987 wines, across 37 varieties and styles, from all 10 of our wine-producing regions - A very comprehensive lineup of our industry’s wine list, and an unparalleled opportunity to produce an annual summary such as this.
For members who submitted wines and received their scores in November last year, the Varietal Summaries have also been updated to include the lowest, highest, and average scores by varietal class, and an introductory copy has been added to explain The Blind Tasting scoring approach, as it differs significantly to that of standard wine competitions.
For further information on the global markets and market activity, please get in touch with Education Manager, Felicity Turner (felicity@nzwine.com).
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Intel & Insights
New Zealand Wine Brand Health Tracker
A webinar presenting the information will be held tomorrow, 28 February, click here for more information and to register.
Chaired by Charlotte Read, General Manager Brand, and featuring Richard Lee, Intel and Insights Specialist, with support from our UK, US, and Australia market managers who will be available to answer questions that may arise in the Q&A. This research was conducted in-field during late 2023 across the following focus markets: USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Following on from our ‘Houston do we have a problem?’ webinar late last year we’ll also be providing an update on New Zealand’s performance vs the overall wine category in those aforementioned markets.
It is designed to track the brand health of New Zealand Wine in terms of awareness, consumption, and imagery compared to other direct country-of-origin competitors. It also measures the degree of openness to the purchase of New Zealand wine both now and in the future including profiling current buyers, potential buyers, lapsed buyers, and unawares. Drinkers of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir will also be profiled.
This is the second wave of the tracker following the inaugural 2022 survey. Therefore, the focus of this year’s report is to see how the markets and consumer behaviours have changed compared to the baseline measures established last year.
For further information on Intel & Insights, please get in touch with Marketing and Digital Executive, Maddison Wyllie-Papali'i (maddison.wyllie-papalii@nzwine.com).
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Events
We are excited to welcome back Carolina Paiva to the Events Team as Events Manager, reporting to Sarah Szostak, Events Lead.
Carolina has a breadth of experience in both event execution and with the NZW organisation. With a fantastic career to date including work for the Brazilian fashion industry via her role with the Textile and Apparel Industry Association, Carolina brings passionate events knowledge and a great understanding of the complexities of working within an industry association. Carolina will be supporting many of the key activities within the Events Team including Grape Days (July), Spray Days (August), Export Market activities, Sponsorship Execution, as well as working on the Industry Celebration and related conferences (August) plus many other event projects and responsibilities.
In partnership with NZTE, NZW attended the recent WSWA Access LIVE event in Las Vegas. This show is a great opportunity to make connections, discover new trends, and get up-to-date on market data. Connections were made with industry leaders including Danny Brager and Dale Stratton, leading sommeliers and influencers.
Wine Advocate
The final New Zealand report by Erin Larkin was posted on Wine Advocate, on 22 February. There are 189 reviews, based on the wines that were part of the consolidated shipment. NZW will send scores to individual wineries in the coming week.
For further information on the USA market and market activity, please get in touch with USA-based Market Manager, Ranit Librach (ranit.librach@nzwine.com).
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UK, Europe & UAE
Annual Trade Tastings
In February, the New Zealand Wine Annual Trade Tastings took place in London and Dublin. These are the largest and most diverse tastings of New Zealand wine in the region, and we were delighted to welcome over 500 guests across both events.
In London, the event was held on Waitangi Day and opened by the High Commissioner Phil Goff. Key highlights of the day included:
A business briefing showcasing the strong performance of New Zealand wine in the UK.
Oz Clarke delivering a passionate masterclass following his recent trip to New Zealand.
A special regional focus table, highlighting wines from all of our winegrowing regions, and an Organic feature.
Over 250 wines were available to taste from across the country featuring a wide range of varieties, from Albariño to Viognier, Chenin Blanc to Cabernet Franc.
In Dublin, the event began with a masterclass from John Wilson on Regional Heroes and Pioneers. There was a strong turnout of high calibre trade and media, with leading importers, off-trade, and on-trade buyers represented. This was followed in the evening with the consumer tasting, which attracted a sell-out crowd of interested and keen consumers eager to learn and taste New Zealand wine.
For a snapshot of the event, you can view a video here
Star Wine List
In the UK we sponsor Best New Zealand list at The Star Wine List Awards. At the Awards ceremony attended by leading On Trade buyers and sommeliers, we have a table to showcase New Zealand wine to the influential audience. In addition, we have been featured in The Buyer, which has a significant reach – even to the US.
For further information on the UK, Europe, or UAE markets and market activity, please get in touch with UK-based Market & Events team, Chris Stroud (chris.stroud@nzwine.com) and Sarah Shepherd (sarahs@nzwine.com).
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Australia
National Liquor News February 2024
New Zealand Winegrowers featured in the National Liquor News 2024 Industry Leaders Forum magazine. The annual edition is considered a go-to source for the latest insights, trends and innovations in Australia’s dynamic liquor retail industry. An interview with Catherine Wansink appears on page 96 and a quote on page 27.
Catherine will now be a regular contributor to the magazine, raising the profile of New Zealand wine in Australia and keeping New Zealand wine top of mind with the trade.
For further information on the Australia market and market activity, please get in touch with Australia-based Market Consultant, Cathy Wansink (catherine.wansink@nzwine.com).
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Canada
Tasting Climate Change Conference
The fourth edition of the Tasting Climate Change Conference was held over two days in Montreal Canada in late January. 30 speakers from all over the world, including Meagan Littlejohn Program Manager of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, came together to share their knowledge and expertise on how to adapt and mitigate climate change. There were 390 attendees most of which were in person with a few joining online. Meagan’s presentation covered the current and future initiatives for the industry goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The NZW Canadian team was also on hand to share the environmental initiatives happening through several featured wineries. 12 New Zealand wines were poured across two tasting sessions. The conference not only served as a platform for global collaboration but also highlighted the concrete steps being taken within the industry to address climate change and promote sustainable practices. We look forward to continuing our work with Michelle Bouffard and increasing our footprint at the Tasting Climate Change Conference in 2026.
Click here to view the Tasting Climate Change 2024 Report.
For further information on the Canadian market and market activity, please get in touch with Canada-based Market & Events team, Andrea Backstrom (andrea.backstrom@nzwine.com) and Melissa Stunden (melissa.stunden@nzwine.com).
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China
Alcohol Innovation & Investment Conference 2023
We presented our practices in the sustainability, zero-carbon, and innovation aspects for the Alcohol Innovation & Investment Conference (AIIC) in Haikou City in November.
AIIC is an innovative premium platform in China with seven modules: Forum Conference, Exhibition, Award Competition, Venture Capital Transaction, Festival, and Immersive Experience & Brand Events. AIIC had 30,000+ visitors, 120+ global keynote speakers from wines, spirits, and other industries, 100+ influential journalists, and 3000+ decision makers from enterprises, government, financial institutions, start-ups, alcoholic drinks production, distribution and service enterprises, as well as final consumers.
New Zealand Wine Education
Fongyee Walker MW hosted a New Zealand Wine Foundation Certification course for Macao Wynn Palace Hotel F&B staff on 24 January. This course was supported by NZW with printed textbooks and certificates. A package of 11 wines across different regions was showcased. It was a great opportunity to educate and showcase the diversity of New Zealand.
With the support of NZW, MFAT, and NZW authorised educator Jessie Deng hosted a wine-tasting session for the New Zealand Consulate-General Guangzhou Media Appreciation Event for Foreign Affairs Offices and Media on the afternoon of 19 January, in Guangzhou. Over 50 people attended the session and deepened their knowledge and experience with NZ wine.
For further information on the Chinese market and market activity, please get in touch with China-based Market Manager, Vanessa Wu (vanessa.wu@nzwine.com).
