New Business

In the background, over the last 12 months, two new businesses have been growing within the liquor industry. Now, over the next few pages, we find out what Nick Blair, Michael Every and Fred Siggins have been building and how these three – who many will recognise – have gone out alone to bring something new to the industry and share their experience to help drive it into the future.

Vision Wine Partners

Vision Wine Partners is the new, specialist wine sales and consultancy business, being run by familiar faces, Nick Blair and Michael Every.

Most will remember Blair from when he worked at Pernod Ricard. Blair held a variety of senior sales and marketing roles with the company, including global marketing responsibility of Australia’s number one wine brand at the time, Jacob’s Creek. Blair has worked in wine both here and overseas, and was based in the UK for a while, where he was Sales and Marketing Director for Pernod Ricard UK.

Every was head of sales for Peter Lehmann Wines, starting out as National Sales Manager, before being promoted to Director of Sales. Every’s market intelligence and strong results have yielded him a highly regarded name within the Australian liquor industry.

“Together, Mike and I have about 50 years of experience in the liquor industry. And actually if you look at total experience, it’s probably close to 80…but let’s not get into that!” Blair jokes.

When selecting a name for the business, Blair and Every wanted something that would embody their expertise in wine, while creating a platform for a unique and proactive consultancy with sales and distribution execution as its objective.

“The name of the business is something we thought about quite a lot. It represents our partnership – Mike and I – and that we are open to bringing in other partners to the business in order to service our clients’ needs,” Blair explains.

“We chose the word Vision, because we have a very sound view of the past and we have a very clear view of where we think the industry can go.”

Specifically, Vision Wine Partners’ role will be to act as a third party to help wine brands find their best route to market. From retail to online, distribution and pricing strategy – Blair and Every will use their experience and contacts to develop a plan that will get a brand exactly where it wants and needs to be in the market.

Every says, “Unlike where a traditional consultant would tell a business what the problems are, come up with some recommendations and then walk away, our role is to actually help brands activate the plans we put in place.”

Blair adds, “What we’ve identified, is that there’s numerous brands out there that have the opportunity to make great wine, with great looking packaging - all of the things that get you to a certain point - but a lot of businesses get lost between there and actually getting the product to market.

“With our contacts, our network and our experience, we can either go to distributors or directly to consumers; we can even go via retail, it really depends on what the brand wants to achieve.”

While wine is the focus for now, spirits and beer could be on the cards for Every and Blair in the future, as could aiding international brands.

“I think the services we offer in Australia are equally valid internationally or to international brands looking to come into the Australian market,” Every says. “As for beer and spirits, the principles are the same.”

Blair adds, “The other interesting thing is, if you look at wine and the traditional way it has been marketed and sold, it’s all about who made it, where it came from and the people behind it. While the model for spirits and beer used to be totally focused on big brand stories, both categories have since evolved from that. Beer, cider and spirits are actually following a wine model nowadays.”

“We also know that consumers are becoming far more engaged in how they buy wine, where they buy it from and how much they’ll pay for it,” Every continues. “Our opportunity is to find those brand principals and get them directly to the consumer. We are attacking it from both ends.”

www.visionwinepartners.com

Pith & Vinegar

Pith & Vinegar is the new bar and beverage consultancy that’s quickly making a name for itself on the Melbourne scene.

The new venture is being headed by well-known, former senior bartender of The Black Pearl, Fred Siggins, who has hung out his shingle to help the independent brands of the south.

From marketing advice to brand advocacy, Fred has the know-how and the in with Melbourne’s trade and its punters, plus oodles of experience.

Fred has experience working with the likes of Diageo, Bacardi, Beam Suntory and William Grant & Sons, helping with everything from training, creating drinks lists, consulting on bar design, judging cocktail competitions and putting together industry events.

The business officially launched mid-way through last year and Fred’s experience on both sides of the industry has already attracted several clients to the Pith & Vinegar stable.

“The idea came about when I started doing consulting style work a couple of years ago as a Diageo Bar Academy trainer,” Fred told drinks trade.

“That role then branched out and I began doing events for Diageo and other companies. People then started asking me to judge cocktail competitions and after that a couple of venues asked me to train their staff, write cocktail lists for them, design their bar…and the work just kept growing.”

Fred has also been behind the whisky appreciation movement in Melbourne over the last few years, working with business partner The Humble Tumbler to promote and engage members of the public with the famous spirit, through courses, masterclasses and corporate events.

“This was all the stuff that inspired me to hang out my shingle and start saying this is what I do - I’m a bar and beverage consultant. Whether it’s from a brand perspective or an education and training perspective, I’m available to help people as somebody who’s been around in the industry for a while,” Fred said.

Current clients of Pith & Vinegar include importer and distributor of South American piscos, The Pisco People, as well as whisky producers Pure Scot Whisky and Melbourne Moonshine. Fred also continues to consult to Diageo, Bacardi and a number of other major distributors and private clients.

“My big thing is brand independence. I think that’s really important, because there aren’t many people in the industry that offer that type of advice,” Fred explained.

“I think pisco has huge potential as a category, as people start to see the diversity and quality in the style, and as Peruvian food takes hold as a wonderful global trend.

“I also think the way we drink whisky is changing, as a younger and more diverse group of people start to take it on as a drink; we’re mixing it more and drinking it more often. Pure Scot and Melbourne Moonshine - among the many other excellent whiskies out there - are both great examples of brands that are championing a new generation of whisky drinkers.

“All of my clients know that I’m brand independent and my philosophy is that everybody that sells good booze, makes good booze – we’re all on the same page.

“So if I’m working for one client, I don’t have to pretend that theirs is the only product in the world in that category. What I want people to understand is why you would reach for that product in particular, when to use it and how to get the best experience out of it.”