British winemaker heads for vintage year
CHAPEL Down, a British winemaker, is on course for a vintage year as consumers seek out English sparkling wine.
Revenues at the Kent-based company are up 33% in the six months to June 30, boosted by sales of still wine – up 57%.
Chapel Down’s new cider and beer ranges are also delivering sparkling results, generating almost £1-million (R20-million) in revenue in the first half.
Later this year, the vineyard planned to launch a number of eye-popping new products, which could lead to a record Christmas, chief executive Frazer Thompson said.
“Some fantastic opportunities came out of the 2014 har- vest,” he said.
“We’ll have some real surprises coming out by Christmas, which will make people’s eyes pop.”
The second half of the year is usually much stronger for wine companies because consumers tend to drink less in January and February.
“People buy sparkling wine to celebrate and there’s not much to celebrate in January,” Thompson said.
This will lead to accelerated sales growth over the next six months, which takes in the cru- cial Christmas trading period.
Sparkling wine, Chapel Downs’ signature product, takes up to 60 months to mature, so the company has diversified into alcoholic beverages that take less time to come to market.
The focus is on premium products and the business is also exporting its products overseas, tapping into the growing demand for English wine.
China, Hong Kong, Japan and the Nordic countries are the top territories for the brand but the focus remains on the UK, the world’s largest market for traditional champagne.
The company continues to invest heavily in the growth of the brand, which has eaten into profit. Cash profits totalled just £84 000 (R1.7-million) in the period, up from £74 000 (R1.5-million) last year.
“We’re not burning cash and the balance sheet is extremely strong,” Thompson said.
“When you are growing at the rate we are, you have to invest in people and systems . . .
“We’re reinvesting all our incremental growth profit into the business.
“It is a fantastic time to be part of the English wine industry – it’s booming – so we wouldn’t want to slow growth now.” – The Telegraph