The Patriarche "bubbles" strategy

Burgundy-based group PATRIARCHE is the second-ranked sparkling wines operator in France, with sales of around 40 million bottles. The clear aim of its strategy is to reinforce its specialisation in the sparkling sector.

To develop its sparkling range and respond to a growing demand in this category, over recent years, PATRIARCHE has acquired the Kriter site and the Sorevi plant in Bordeaux-Mérignac (with the Paul Bur, Pol Rémy and Veuve du Vernay brands). The Patriarche group is seeking opportunities to develop its sparkling wine exports. Currently, half of its international sales (which account for around 20% of its turnover) concern sparkling wines.

"The objective is to boost exports to 40% of sales, including two-thirds for sparkling wines and through as limited a number of brands as possible”, underlines the group’s managing director, Philippe PEULSON. "For sparkling wines, the choice for export has fallen on Veuve du Vernay. The name is easy to pronounce. As for Kriter, the leader in non-AOC sparkling wines in France in value, there is little room for enhancement in the export market”, points out Philippe Peulson.

In particular, Veuve du Vernay will be commercialised in the United Kingdom in Tesco. This will also be a spring-board for attacking other markets, such as the United States, Australia, Japan, Benelux and Scandinavia. To achieve this, Veuve du Vernay has had a highly elegant facelift. The brand already sells 1.3 million bottles. The objective is to reach 5 million bottles in 5 years.

A top-of-the-range 100% Chardonnay version is planned for 2009. In particular, this is destined for the Anglo-Saxon markets. Julien LEPONT, export marketing manager, underlines that Patriarche "is also winning markets thanks to its Crémant, especially the rosé. This was a product initially designed simply to complement the range".

The group is still short of bottles to respond to too much demand in terms of volume, as is the case with the Scandinavian monopolies.

Revue Vinicole Internationale - December 2008 / January 2009