Generics respond to the pandemic: Wines from Spain

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 20 April, 2020

In the second of a series focusing on how the UK’s generic bodies are dealing with the current crisis, we talk to Fernando Muñoz Naranjo, director, Foods and Wines from Spain.

What does work look like during lockdown?

The office is up and running remotely. We are all well connected and with access to email, CRM, SAP, telephone and videoconference. I'm mostly working on the strategy, budgeting, and planning the upcoming campaigns to be undertaken in the second half of the year.

In terms of planned events, initiatives and campaigns, what have you shifted and to when?

Our Wines from Spain Annual Tasting and the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino annual dinner have been rescheduled to 29 September and 22 October respectively. I'm glad that all our partners for these events were very accommodating and flexible with this. Most of the work is done, so we just need to resume it from where we stopped when we get closer to the dates.

By the end of June, if everything is back to normal, we will start the DO Jerez campaign, as well as other promotional campaigns on the Foods from Spain side of the business, such as chorizo, persimmon, cherries, etc. All these activities were actually planned for the second half of the year, so in this regard the lockdown hasn't really had a negative impact so far.

Also, two of our major events that were planned for end of March/beginning of April, have been rescheduled to September/October, so I also had to work very closely with our suppliers, partners and clients to make this happen as swiftly as possible.

What other initiatives or new strategies might we see as we emerge post lockdown?

It will all depend on how long the lockdown remains in force. We will definitely need to focus on activities targeting producers that depend heavily on on-trade sales, as they are suffering a greater economic impact. Partnering with UK-based Spanish restaurants was already part of our strategy for 2020-21, and it is now more important than ever.

Do you foresee any changes with regard to how the producers you represent might approach this market post the pandemic?

Online sales experienced an increase since the lockdown, but it still does not balance the strong decrease in the on-trade sales. It is still to be seen if this trend is here to stay once the lockdown is lifted. Our producers are also quite concerned about the impact of the pandemic in the UK-EU negotiations and the risk of a no-deal Brexit by the end of the year.

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