THE WINE MERCHANT. An independent magazine for independent retailers
Issue 134, April 2024
Dog of the month: Rayna Victor Indigo November, Gateshead
Half of independents ship wine direct from producers Fourteen out of every 100 wines on the shelves of indie merchants do not come via wholesalers, survey shows
D
espite the challenges of Brexit, 47% of independent wine
merchants continue to directly
import at least some of their wines – and nearly a third say they will increase this activity in the coming year, according to
this year’s Wine Merchant reader survey. The results show that around 14% of
what’s on independents’ shelves is sourced directly – a lower figure than recorded in previous surveys, although perhaps
higher than might have been expected
given post-Brexit complications, which
Last month The Wine Merchant hosted
have persuaded some indies to give up on
a webinar which offered advice to indies
that importing their own wine gives them
their own wines, agreed that the key to
imports.
Many participants in the survey say
access to exclusive products and the ability to maximise margins. But for others, the paperwork and cash flow implications
make importing more trouble than it’s
worth. Just over a quarter of indies say
they will continue to source all their wines from UK suppliers.
47% of indies source at least some of their range direct from the producer
who want to explore importing. Merchants
who took part, with experience of shipping successful importing was finding a good freight forwarder to handle the admin.
• The second instalment of this year’s survey results begins on page 21; a report on the direct importing webinar starts on page 50.