Don’t be Afraid to Go Small
Posted on Mon 5th Jun 2017 at 11:26
Go big or go home? Not any more, at least in not where the wine industry is concerned. Whereas big businesses used to rule the wholesale market, Signature is proud to be part of the group of small wine importers that are shaking things up.
It is, of course, easy to source your wines from the giant suppliers. They’re tried and tested, and because they deal in huge quantities they can sometimes provide significant discounts. In addition they have huge teams of people that can come to your premises and provide product training.
So why should you use a small wholesaler instead? In the magazine of the London Wine Fair, The Grapevine, editor Richard Siddle featured an article entitled ‘why small importers can now take on the big national distributors’, which raised a number of important points about the benefits of a company our size. We’ve summarised the article below:
One of Siddle’s main points was that our small size makes us a lot more flexible. Need just a single case of a particular wine, or want to speak to someone who’s actually visited the vineyards without waiting days for a telephone appointment? We can react quickly to requests and ensure you get what you need when you need it – no matter what that might be. After all, we’re a small business too, and we know how not only crippling delays can be, but also how brilliant it is to see hard work and innovative thinking pay off.
Smaller operations also tend to have a hand-picked stock and the ability to sniff out the unusual, great value, next-big-thing wines. Unconstrained by the need to cater to specific markets they can champion regions, varieties and styles that are less well known, bringing wonderful new bottles to the UK market. With their infectious passion they can light up an in-store tasting and inspire your customers to dip their toe into a new vat of opportunities.
In addition, says Siddle - although it’s somewhat counter-intuitive, small importers can actually be more resilient that big wholesalers in the long run. This is because they are more willing and able to adapt to changes, for example in law and technology, than large companies with entrenched business models and infrastructure. In these difficult times, with significant challenges still to come, you can be assured that small wine companies will do everything they can to survive and thrive.
We’re very proud to be one of the small importers bringing wonderful and exciting wines from the Eastern Mediterranean to the UK market. We hope you enjoy working with us and as always we value your feedback – there are always ways we can improve!
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