Broadland Wineries on course to become a £250m wine business in 12 years

By Richard Siddle

Published: 14 November, 2014

Broadland Wineries is on track to grow its business from £10 million turnover in 2006, £100m by 2016 and climb to £250m by 2026 if it continues its journey of being a fully-fledged international wine supplier in its own right and away from its roots as a contract bottler.

Broadland Wineries is on track to grow its business from £10 million turnover in 2006 to £250m by 2026 if it continues its journey of being a fully-fledged international wine supplier in its own right and away from its roots as a contract bottler.

The business claims to have changed "immeasurably" in the last two years particularly as it has looked to build up its own portfolio of imported wines and become a dedicated wine supplier.

Mark Lansley, managing director of Broadland Wineries, said he expects its turnover to reach £55m this year, up on £44m in 2013/14. Profit last year was £1.8m and is expected to rise this year.

If it can grow at least the same level, if not more, then Lansley predicts it could look to widen its exports, which doubled in the last year, and build an international business with a £250m turnover by 2026. "This may mean overseas filling plants need to be set up at some stage," he said.

A key part of that strategy started two years when it looked to source and build up its own range of imported wines, mainly from the Old World, which are bottled at source and targeted at key areas of the market.

It has enabled the business to shift its strategy from being essentially a service contract provider of bottled wine, to a standalone wine supplier.

"The business has changed immeasurably from being a contract bottler," said marketing manager Ben Cameron. "There are a lot of exciting things going on."

"We now have a much more relevant portfolio to multi-channel retailers," stressed Dr Arabella Woodrow MW, Broadland's wine director.

In the last year it has introduced nearly 80 new products to the market. It now has a range of 43 of its own wines covering classic areas such as Rioja and Prosecco and has also helped develop 35 bespoke, private label wines.

Lansley said the change in direction has made a big difference to the company's profitability and ability to grow. "We are processing half the number of lines we were three years ago, but are making twice the profit," he explained.

Its Cawston filling plant is only at 50% capacity. A new bottling was added last year that allows Broadland to filling from 18.7cl through to 1.5L, in glass and PET and Singlz bottles, Stelcap and Novatwist.

Revenue per litre was just 42p per litre of wine in 2006. That now sits at £1.32 which, in turn, gives the company more "room to breathe" and allows it to "put more pennies in to buying better liquids". Lansley expects this to move up above £1.50 in the next two years as sales of your higher quality wines are growing.

"The quality of wine at entry level coming out of here now is so much higher than in the past," he conceded.

He said the company decided to shift its focus as it was heavily reliant on major wine distributors and wanted to take more control over its own destiny.

Its marketing and PR strategy for 2014 has been very much around "building the credibility and awareness" of Broadland's new approach as a wine supplier in its own right, confirmed Cameron.

Its growth has certainly been noticed right across the food and drink industry. Broadland Wineries, for example, was named the 28^th fastest growing FMCG report recently published by Harpers sister title, The Grocer.

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