Importer develops niche for South African wines

Optimistic with the huge potential of South African wines in the Philippine market, a Cebu-based wine importer and distributor is looking at huge growth prospects within the next months.

“My wife and I are passionate about wines and we personally select every single wine we sell. We rediscovered South African Wines three years ago and we are just impressed with its quality and different intensities and styles,” said Gordon “Dondi” Joseph in an interview during the opening of the South African Food and Wine Festival at the Marco Polo Plaza.

Joseph and his wife Corrine Joseph own D+B (Darras and Bowler) Wines, a retail and wholesale wine outlet in the Crossroads, Banilad under Corinthia Gourmet Incorporated (CGI).

After CGI’s incorporation last 2003, D+B Wines has since grown and became one of the prominent players in Cebu’s food and beverage industry.

They carry over 350 wine labels in its portfolio, considered to be the largest here in Cebu and among its best selling wines are from New Zealand, Australia and France.

The company is also the leading proponent of South Africa’s greatest and award winning wines bringing around 50 labels on its wine list.

They carry South African wines that produce high quality, hand-made wines that are rich in flavor and aromas.

Joseph said that they have since been selling wines in the Cebu market and they have sold South African wines for about three years already from importers but it was just recently this year that they have decided to directly import these wines from South Africa.

He said that the first shipment of about 200 cases of South African wines will arrive around this week.

“South African wines are made by pure traditional wine makers using natural ingredients. Its price to quality ratio is very great so customers get the quality they paid for,” he added.

In terms of competition, he said that there are also around two to three distributors of South African wines here in Cebu but these are supermarket varieties and not of high quality.

“Our goal is to focus on the niche market of quality. We want to sell and bring quality wines to Cebu but not at a high price,” he said.

Joseph also said that doing business with South Africans has been very easy for them because South African businessmen are nice and they easily trust their partners.

“We do business with South Africans at a more personal level. If you are able to gain their trust, they will be very good to you,” he said.

He said that slowly their South African wines are growing its market base in line with the growth of D+B Wines.

Currently, D+B Wines carry 25 brands of South African Wines and Joseph said that in the next 12 months, they are expecting to penetrate around 10 to 15 percent of the market with the growing acceptance of South African wines in the market.

After five years of operations, Joseph outlaid plans of expand their distributorship to other cities so they can establish their presence nationwide.

Joseph said that generally the wine industry in the Philippines is growing in such as rapid phase with an organized growth of around 10 percent a year.

Currently, there are around 13 major players in the industry and if the country’s tourism industry continues to grow, there is a huge potential for the industry to grow as well, said Joseph.

The client base of wines are proved to be recession proof so despite the current global economic crises, decline of sales is not anticipated especially that its market value wines in their lifestyle, added Joseph.

The South Africa Food and Wine Festival which features the rainbow cuisine of South Africa will run until the 20th of November at the Café Marco of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel showcasing a wide range of South African Wines from D+B Wines.