Glengarry throws lifeline to boutique wineries who can't get shelf space
Wine retailer's website is now open to all makers of wine. cider and beer for online purchasing.
The country’s oldest independent wine and liquor retailer, Glengarry, is reaching out to other New Zealand family-owned businesses to help them win customers.
Glengarry general manager Liz Wheadon says major overseas-owned wineries and brewers aren’t interested in small local producers, so her company has opened its website retailing to all suppliers.
Ms Wheadon says dozens of small producers are a feature of the local wine and liquor industry but their marketing hurdles are high.
“The retail market is dominated by a couple of big players and their range is quite similar,” she says. “There’s also a handful of specialist liquor stores but there’s still many more wines than any of us can do justice to.
“One of our challenges is shelf space and building more stores is not an option. In online we are not restricted and a lot of small producers find their route to market is essentially squashed.”
So Glengarry has opened its website, www.glengarrywines.co.nz, to any who have product to sell.
Ms Wheadon says Glengarry has developed its own site and this enables customers to place an order, which is then fulfilled by NZ Post. Its courier vans pick up the wine, beer or cider from the producer and delivers it to the purchaser.
“We don’t want to build a wall; we’re breaking one down,” she says. “There are no listing fees for suppliers, no hefty sums to be added – it’s about taking down barriers and ensuring that New Zealand’s excellent, but often unheralded wineries have a local and supportive route to the market.
“Though not coming directly from Glengarry, the goods will be able to be tracked and traced via the Glengarry website, and our call centre will know all about them. So we’re talking convenience and ease of mind.”
Nevil Gibson
Mon, 21 Nov 2016
Mon, 21 Nov 2016
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Glengarry throws lifeline to boutique wineries who can't get shelf space
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