Import wine

tonyrobert · Sep 18, 2009

Hello, I am new to this forum so I hope I have chosen the right area to ask my questions. I am considering starting a wine import company. I wish to import and sell direct to the non-trade customer. Can this be done or does my wine need to go direct to a trader on for retail. Apart from paying excise duty and any VAT (which i will obviously charge to the customer) what else do I need? If anyone can offer me advice I would appreciate it.

Many thanks

Tony

patientlady · Sep 18, 2009

Wine & Spirits Trade Association ( wsta dot co dot uk ) will explain everything for you.
Where are you thinking of importing from? Are these fine wines?

tonyrobert · Sep 18, 2009

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I am going to be importing from Slovakia. Only thing is, due to high duty, i really need to sell to specialist wine retailer or direct to customer. I need to consider my marketing strategy very carefully indeed...

patientlady · Sep 18, 2009

tonyrobert said:
Hi, Thanks for your reply. I am going to be importing from Slovakia. Only thing is, due to high duty, i really need to sell to specialist wine retailer or direct to customer. I need to consider my marketing strategy very carefully indeed...

Well this seems rather exciting, you could hit the country by storm! lol
As you say the strategy must be right! Lots to think about... On trade - Off trade - or both! Do you have any contacts? What volumes are you thinking? Fine or Desert wine or Intro wines.
£1.61 duty is obviously chargeable for all wines, whilst a factor, is the same for all...

tonyrobert · Sep 18, 2009

Yeah...lots to think about. There is no way that I can hit the market with cheap wine...simply too expensive! Bulgaria are also going to introduce a few wines this year to the UK. And from what I hear, it is going to go down a storm. I am going to launch a more expensive fine wine (I think people are getting fed up with cheap wine), so I will certainly have my work cut out. I have all the contacts I need in Slovakia but I sure could do with some contacts in the UK. The wine (red & white) is excellent quality. I am sure that once it gets here it will be successful -I hope! I am in the process of creating the web site at the moment. Should be up and running by end of next week. Remeber the name VinoSK. I am hoping to start importing next month. Low volume to start with (1000 ltr) with increase as orders grow. I think selling on & off trade is the best for me? What is it that you do? Thanks for the replies... Keep them coming! Tony

patientlady · Sep 18, 2009

tonyrobert said:
Yeah...lots to think about. There is no way that I can hit the market with cheap wine...simply too expensive! Bulgaria are also going to introduce a few wines this year to the UK. And from what I hear, it is going to go down a storm. I am going to launch a more expensive fine wine (I think people are getting fed up with cheap wine), so I will certainly have my work cut out. I have all the contacts I need in Slovakia but I sure could do with some contacts in the UK. The wine (red & white) is excellent quality. I am sure that once it gets here it will be successful -I hope! I am in the process of creating the web site at the moment. Should be up and running by end of next week. Remeber the name VinoSK. I am hoping to start importing next month. Low volume to start with (1000 ltr) with increase as orders grow. I think selling on & off trade is the best for me? What is it that you do? Thanks for the replies... Keep them coming! Tony

Ok we are wholesalers, but not really in a position to buy 'unknown wines'! (although if the price is right)...
If you are labelling just the one wine in red & white I would suggest that you either go down the route of on trade OR off trade. We only consider 'on trade wines', very rarely buying 'both'. I would need to know a little more about your market, style etc to offer an opinion...

tonyrobert · Sep 18, 2009

Ok I will do my best here. My company will offer fine wines at fine prices. I have one main winery annd two back-up wineries in Slovakia. I am co-director (more on the management side) and my company partner, Robert, holds an extreme amount of knowledge and experience in the wine industry. I am extremely confident that once the quality of Slovak wine becomes known in the UK then the orders will follow. We are actually looking at importing a variety of red; white and rose into Uk. Our business strategy to date is going extremely well and we hope this continues. We are in the process of creating a web site; producing a catalogue...etc. Our company wll be in a position to offer fine wine of the highest quality at very reasonable prices to the retailer/wholesaler. For example: a good quality 2007 dry red at 12.5% from the Southern vinyards of Slovakia can be yours for £5. This is a great price for wine which will sell for £12 or more to the public. VinoSK's main hurdle will be creating the trader confidence. Like I say, I am convinced that once VinoSK wines become known in the UK they will be duly appreciated. If you are interested then maybe you could spare some time for my partner and I to visit, and let you sample the variety of wine which we have on offer. If you are then interested then we could try to come to an arrangement. If you're not interested then I wiill not consider it a wast of time; but a gaining of experience. Let me know. If you have any spesific questions then please ask and I will do my best to answer. Kind regards. Tony

patientlady · Sep 18, 2009

Hi Tony
Thanks for the info. from what you have said your partner knows the industry quite well. To give you some idea for 'on trade' figures a wholesaler would expect Cost price x 30%. Pub plus £8.00 cash margin, restaurant say £10 to £11 cash margin, Club well....

I am sending a PM

pacha75 · Sep 28, 2009

Hi I would like to tag along this discussion. I own a winery in southern Italy which has recently won some awards and we are looking to expand our distribution in the UK. As such could anyone help with food safety and labeling requirements? Also bonded warehouse suggestions would be much appreciated. I am looking to bring one pallet, and then maybe increasing the size as I move on.

Thanks!

tonyrobert · Sep 29, 2009

Hi Pacha75,

You are more than welcome to tag along.

I run a company named VinoSK. I am still in the process of sorting out a few things, such as prices for storage and movement. There are a vast amount of bonded warehouses in the UK, prices will obviously vary. I have just found a warehouse which will store ata cost of £1. 50 plus VAT per pallet per week. A £3.00 handle charge is also payable. Pallets can be stored for as long as necessary. The company will sort out all the necessary shipment/movement paperwork, at no extra cost.

In the UK you must have English labels before you can sell the wine.

This is all still very much new to me but i am slowly getting there. I hope to start importing on schedule next month or November at the latest.

Hope this helps,

Tony

pacha75 · Sep 29, 2009

Hi Tony,

would you mind providing details of this bonded warehouse? I have spoken with someone at the Food Safety -wine standards and they said if my bottles are EU compliant then all i needed was a "contains sulfites" in English on the bottle (which it already has). Now I am trying to see if there is anything else i need to do....

My mail is pacha75 (at) netscape (dot) net

Thanks

xxxx · Sep 29, 2009

Hi Tony,

sounds like a positive approach to the market and the prices you have been offered don't sound bad!

Don't think I can help you at this stage..maybe in the future we could collaborate somehow.. I live in naples, where is your company?

dave_t · Oct 20, 2009

I have been importing wine from Spain for 3 years now and thought I would give you the heads up that the cheapest delivery I have found is with PalletTo.com. Let me know if you need any further advice based on my experience with them.

peter cavanagh · Oct 20, 2009

tonyrobert said:
Hi Pacha75,

You are more than welcome to tag along.

I run a company named VinoSK. I am still in the process of sorting out a few things, such as prices for storage and movement. There are a vast amount of bonded warehouses in the UK, prices will obviously vary. I have just found a warehouse which will store ata cost of £1. 50 plus VAT per pallet per week. A £3.00 handle charge is also payable. Pallets can be stored for as long as necessary. The company will sort out all the necessary shipment/movement paperwork, at no extra cost.

In the UK you must have English labels before you can sell the wine.

This is all still very much new to me but i am slowly getting there. I hope to start importing on schedule next month or November at the latest.

Hope this helps,

Tony

Could you tell me what warehouse was this?

Pete

tonyrobert · Oct 21, 2009

I would like to say sorry to you all for the late replies. Unfortunately, my computer completely crashed and i have only just got up and running again.

The list of bonded wharehouses was in my data on the other computer which I have not yet managed to retrieve. Once I get this data back I will pass it on.

My company runs out of Warrington at the moment although it will now remain dormant until 2010, as this will give me time to make my presentations and hopefully get a customer base.

I will post more later.

Thanks for all the advice.

Tony

tigers eyes · Oct 30, 2009

Hello All,

I have been reading this thread with great interest. I am considering starting a wine importing business myself and I am very keen to speak to others in the business already. How did you find your customers, I have contacts in the countries that I will be importing from but I am not sure how to go about promoting and attracting people to my business. Can anybody advise?

olliechapman · Aug 24, 2010

I am too looking to import some wine from Spain to the UK. Please can anyone advise a cheap pallet delivery service as Palletto.com do not seem to be operating.

Thanks,
Ollie

BubbleTrouble · Aug 26, 2010

Bulk wine importing is a very unglamorous name for what is essentially a key ingredient in producing quality wines at a cheap price. Bulk wine is wine that is shipped not in its bottle, but in some form of tank, and bottled in the destination country. It can be for cheap un-branded wine or for big brands that need to move large quantities of wine. There are three issues associated with importing wine - quality control, environmental issues and costs.

The UK is the worlds largest wine importer, with more than 1.3 billion litres entering the country each year.

Bulk importing of wine, for bottling in the UK,is increasingly seen as a more cost-effective and environmentally sound alternative to bottling at source. It can reduce CO2 emissions, address consumer concerns about environmental impact and stimulate the market for UK recycled green glass. And due to advancements in tanker technology and quality protocols, bulk imported wine can arrive in better condition than wine bottled at source.

Just something to consider in your set up and plans, for further advise on this subject read this excellent article below:

thirtyfifty.co.uk/spotlight-wine-packaging.asp

Reducing carbon emmisions as a company can be a good focus point for your marketing. Tesco Wines announced in January 2010 that they were launching what they call 'the lightest ever wine bottle'.

The new bottle, weighing just 300g, is the result of collaboration between WRAP, Kingsland Wine and Spirits and Quinn Glass. It is apparently 30% lighter than the lightest bottles that the supermarket giant previously used for bottling its own-label wines in the UK (Tesco have long earned eco-points and save valuable pennies by importing considerable quantities of wine in bulk). These new 300g bottles are expected to reduce Tesco's glass usage by a further 560 tonnes a year.

Tesco reports that bottling in the new 300g glass bottles is one of the final stages in their 'strategy to significantly reduce carbon emissions on wines brought into their stores. Already the majority of New World wines are shipped to the UK in bulk and bottled in the UK, rather than bottled at source'. Since starting bulk shipping in 2003, Tesco now imports 10 million litres of wine a year in bulk to provide 57 different lines.

redwine · Oct 4, 2010

Hi,

I read your old thread re wine importation and I'm hoping you have any info that you managed to find on your search.

I have no knowledge of importing wine and I'm hoping to get a step by step guide. The easy bit is already done - 3 very large clients wanting to deal!

Tomas81 · Nov 21, 2011

Hi all!

If you are looking to import wine from Spain I have just discovered this website tradewithspain.com it's an online directory of Spanish wineries, you can see their products and contact the producers for free.

Cheers!!

sirethegreat · Dec 14, 2011

I can't think of more you need actually

NigelBD · Aug 2, 2017

Hi Tony - I checked your website and it looks like you got started ok.
Did it all work out ok?
I'm considering a wine importing business myself
Any advice?
Regards
Nigel

Awinner2 · Aug 6, 2017

Interesting website but does not indicate to me that you are supplying into the UK? I also suggest that your web designer moves the translation button to the top right of the home page. If for the UK, consider getting the site re-written in English, with a dot com or dot co.uk domain?

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