Joshua Castle: ‘Looking Back, Forging Ahead’

By Harpers Editorial team

Published: 12 August, 2024

We continue our series with Joshua Castle, group head buyer, Keeling Andrew, Noble Rot and Shrine to the Vine.

How has business been for you in the first half of 2024 and how do things compare to where you were last year?

Keeling Andrew [B2B] is still a young company and growing by a rate of knots. We took on some incredible on-trade agencies last year including Arnoux-Lachaux and JF Mugnier, whilst also expanding our offering of affordable wines for restaurants including an organically farmed house red Tempranillo 'Don Tinto' to compliment our popular 'Chin Chin' Vinho Verde. Generally we're up on last year, and looking to bring on new sales staff to tell the stories of our great producers.

How has the cost-of-living crisis played out across the year and what – if anything – have you been able to do to mitigate that?

Being on-trade focused at Keeling Andrew we’re conscious of striking the balance between servicing the needs of restaurants, whilst also putting new and exciting wines and producers in the glass of somms and wine buyers. Whilst our core lines are flying, it's a challenge to get people off the beaten track, so we've really focused on our on-trade communication with regular offers, producer profiles and are due to launch a new website which we hope will be a great resource for buyers.

Read more: Brett Fleming: ‘Looking Back, Forging Ahead’

What of staffing?

Providing a non-stop offering of training opportunities and a world class selection of wines to work with has meant we've attracted and retained some great staff members, especially through the Noble Rot restaurants.

What are you most proud of achieving this year? Have you managed to achieve any specific goals?

Without sounding too bashful, I'm really proud of my friends. Through the drinks industry I've met some brilliant people, and one who has had some great success this year with his first restaurant opening is Benedict Butterworth. His restaurant, Cloth, has had a string of glowing reviews from top restaurant critics and I'm really happy to watch his continued successes.

And what is the biggest cause for concern?

Supply chain issues really worry me. Although not as bad as last year, not being able to deliver to the final customer due to shipping or warehousing delays is frustrating to say the least. It's an area we're looking at in depth, as it's so essential to providing great customer service.

Specifically, what will be the likely impact on your business of the planned end of the temporary easement on wine duty on 1 February 2025?

Excessive time spent dealing with logistical bottlenecks and warehousing mishaps. Although some lower ABV categories may benefit, I don't anticipate prices easing for the on-trade who are typically looking at duty-paid prices.

What are the biggest drinking trends at the moment, and how do you expect that to change going into the autumn?

Perhaps unsurprisingly customers are asking for the 'classics' again, especially Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rioja. With less disposable income drinkers really want the wine to deliver a great experience in the glass and I believe drinkers see relative value in these established, historical regions. On top of that I reckon that in times of global tumult people move to the familiar, whether that be food, drinks or what they like to watch on TV.

Speaking of classic regions, the easing of fine wine prices has been a great thing for us, as we can pass that value on to the drinker. I would love to see prices soften a bit further into Autumn.

Any other predictions for the second half of the year?

It's impossible to ignore the trend towards 'no & low' which is starting to look like a permanent fixture in the on-trade. I'm looking forward to discovering products in this category that are more 'terroir' specific, rather than process oriented.

AI is all in the news at the moment, and I think we're yet to see its full impact on the wine industry. More automated order processing, stock management and AI generated content is surely around the corner if it hasn't already arrived. It will be an interesting challenge for the industry to grapple with and a threat to many roles.

Quick fire questions…

France, Italy or Spain? France for wine, Italy for food, Spain for holiday

English fizz or Champagne? Champagne

‘Normal’ or ‘natural’ wine? Normal, naturally

Brown or white spirits? White, cold and with a twist

Mixologist or mix it at home? Mixologist – leave it to the pros

Sharing plates or structured meal? I will follow the new zeitgeisty opinion and answer 'structured'

Post-prandial preference? 'Just one' quick Guinness?

Desert island treat? I know this is supposed to be edible but there isn't much I wouldn't trade for an afternoon nap

Printer friendly version