Family Business
Issue No. 51 - February/March 2010
Bleasdale puts family name to work
Medium-sized, family owned wine companies have the best chance of succeeding in the internationally competitive wine market according to one of Australia’s most experienced wine marketers.
Peter Perrin started out in the Australian wine industry in 1979 with Lindemans, launching Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay into the US market in the mid-1980s. Later he became Export Director of Wolf Blass Wines and masterminded the growth of Wolf Blass Yellow Label in the US and Canada before returning to Australia to work in the Fosters-owned Beringer Blass.
More recently he launched the Cheviot Bridge Wine Company and was MD of Cockatoo Ridge. Now MD of Bleasdale Wines, Peter believes the family estate’s character affords a marketing edge. “I’ve worked in large and small listed public companies for most of my life and it is extraordinary how challenging that sector is becoming with the consolidation of wine brands and distribution,” Peter says. “I am upbeat about the future for family wine companies which have developed a critical mass over the past couple of decades. “Bleasdale is ideally positioned: it has a strong regional focus, it has good people, excellent vineyards, solid world wide distribution and it is self-sufficient with its own estate winery and bottling hall.”Bleasdale’s annual production of about 100,000 cases makes it very competitive. “It is big enough to be able to supply markets in Europe, the United States and South-East Asia as well as Australia but small enough to be flexible and fast moving in both product development and market penetration,” Peter says. “Its regional specialisation has also enabled it to protect price points and not get caught up in the discounting battles between the big corporates. Most of Bleasdale’s portfolio fits in the $15 to $20 a bottle range which is the most profitable category and it also sells premium wines up to $40 bottle so consumers can trade up.”Bleasdale is the second oldest fam...
