Although a name that many South Africans may not recognise, WestCorp International counts itself among some of the world’s larger wine producers and is one of South Africa’s largest wine exporters, boasting some 15,22-million litres (1,7-million 9-litre case equivalents) of exports out of total production of 65-million litres (7,2 -million 9-litre cases) during 2002, more than that of all of New Zealand combined.
The winery, formed in November 2002 by the merger of Vredendal Winery and neighbouring Spruitdrift in the Olifants River region, is responsible for a number of top-selling brands in the UK.
Even before the merger, the group had already embarked on a successful export-driven strategy based on providing consistent quality wines in substantial, reliable quantities to a number of price points, according to marketing manager Fanie Augustyn.
Two of its brands, Gôiya and Namaqua, are now among the top 25 best selling wines in the UK, with the bottled Gôiya range, at number 22, enjoying 35% growth since being repackaged last August. Augustyn says the performance of Gôiya is bound to be enhanced by the recent launch of a range of dual varietal boxed wines under the same brand.
Namaqua, meanwhile, is the UK’s 13th biggest wine brand and the top boxed brand from South Africa, with a growth rate of 86% in the past year. It also has been selling well in South Africa.
In fact, according to AC Neilson data, the Namaqua Dry White is the single biggest box wine in the UK, outperforming some of its more well known international competitors. Another WestCorp wine, Inanda Brut, is the best selling South African sparkling wine in the UK.
While Gôiya may not be familiar to too many South Africans, cricket lovers may have spotted the brand being advertised around the top cricket grounds in the UK during the recent one day international triangular series there between the Proteas, England and Zimbabwe.
Augustyn attributes the company’s phenomenal success to their continued efforts to build brands, their commitment to supply the consumer with best possible product at a given price point and a continuous effort to improve on service levels. Plans are afoot to extend the Gôiya range from the present early drinking white and red blends to a more varied range of wines that will also cater for the more developed taste of the wine connoisseur out there. Focus in this regard will be on more complex, oak-matured premium red wines, he says.
Westcorp is also gearing up to tackle new markets on the European continent and the US with its Gôiya, Namaqua and newly developed Rain Dance brands. To this end they have achieved listings through Wertkauf in Germany, Auchen in France and Albertsons in California.
Initial volumes to these markets are small in comparison to those of the UK, but could be as high as 1,5-million litres in year one, with the US and Germany accounting for about 90% of that volume.
“North America is seen as a very important growth area for WestCorp, with a lot of effort and money being invested in the American and Canadian markets,” Augustyn says. “Other important markets to be targeted will include Scandinavia, some selected Eastern European countries and selected countries in the Far East.”
In the South African market, the Namaqua range of box wines is doing quite well, he reveals, with listings in most major supermarkets and independent wine outlets. Sales of this brand have grown by 30% year-on-year. This growth is set to continue with the introduction of the new Otor technology (8-sided carton), which will elevate the Namaqua brand to a “higher level” of performance.
Apart from the box range, WestCorp has re-launched the Spruitdrift label and is looking to introduce Gôiya in the local market in the not too distant future.
The company has ambitious plans to grow exports to more than 30-million litres over the next five years, which Augustyn says they are “confident” of achieving. The 2003 vintage yielded a bumper crop just short of 100 000 tons (70-million litres), of which about 31% will be exported, a 45% increase on 2002 levels.
At the same time, they will be improving their wines’ quality through the use of viticulturalists’ expertise and the investments in new oak barrels, among other production method improvements.
With 250 farmers supplying it with all varieties of grapes from over 6 000 hectares of vineyards around the Olifants River region, Westcorp certainly has the potential to meet or even beat its ambitious targets. – I-Net Bridge