Wine Business Forum

Programme

The Wine Business Forum covered: AI in wine marketing; innovative marketing strategies; sustainability in wine business; the future of wine tourism and global trends; navigating evolving lifestyle trends and alcohol consumption guidelines; direct-to-consumer mastery.

This year's forum also included the much-loved Fruitfed Supplies Young Winemaker Speeches.

Felicity Carter - Executive Director Areni Global, Founder Drinks Insider

Navigating the Wine Lane on the Beverage Superhighway

Our opening keynote was from European based Felicity Carter, founder of the Drinks Insider podcast and research consultancy, and Executive Director of Areni Global in London.

Felicity looked at how the wine industry navigates the unprecedented headwinds facing the global wine industry, plus make suggestions on how to seize the opportunities out there. New technical advancements in machine learning and AI mean that the world of wine is about to leap into a new era of quality; younger people are embracing wine - fine wine. There are intriguing reasons why this is happening.

Click here to hear what Felicity Carter has to say about the Altogether Unique 2024 Wine Business Forum

Andrew Shedden - Head of Fine Wine, Endeavour Group

Expanding lanes: The only thing driving growth in wine is innovation

As Head of Fine Wine in Australia's largest liquor retailer (Dan Murphy’s /BWS) with millions of transactions at the point of sale, Andrew Shedden is well placed to view what's in the weekly wine shop and what's not, what's working well, and what's trending strongly and why. Despite overall liquor growth being stalled in Australia there are pockets of strong growth within the category and within wine, especially from companies that are innovating in a way that's meaningful to consumers. Find out from the largest retail influencer in New Zealand's third largest wine market what insights they are seeing that might help you shape the future of your New Zealand wine business.

Click here to hear what Andrew Shedden has to say about the Altogether Unique 2024 Wine Business Forum

Rachel O’Shea - COO & Co-Founder, Yabble

A whole new superhighway: AI in Wine Business

The alcoholic beverages industry is leaning into AI in more ways than you may think. Alcoholic beverage brands are still in the early innings of deploying AI, and going beyond improvements to irrigation for example, an increasing number of companies are using the technology to firstly better understand consumers, to inform the production of wine and ultimately the goal of creating new brands and flavours that will be a hit with consumers. Find out more from Rachel O'Shea, Co-founder of Yabble, a cutting-edge generative AI company that's revolutionizing the world of insights, working with Fortune 500 companies globally to bring AI into their marketing and business practice.

Click here to hear what Rachel O'Shea has to say about the Altogether Unique 2024 Wine Business Forum

Simon Limmer - CEO, Indevin Group

Greening Lanes - Sustainability as a Competitive Edge

Climate Change and Sustainability is becoming more important as an influence on the purchase of wine across all of New Zealand's major markets. Aside from this, climate related reporting and trade measures are being put in place, with international climate and disclosure requirements, international trade agreements, as well as retailer demands for carbon reporting across entire supply chains. As the former CEO of Zespri and Silver Fern Farms, and now CEO of Indevin, Simon is well placed to provide insights on why this is important to brands and how to turn this to a competitive advantage for New Zealand wine.

René de Monchy - Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand

Construction - Building a Brand Army: the role of Wine Tourism

With the Winery Cellar Door Tasting Bill going through its final stages in the parliamentary process, it's the perfect time to shine the light on Wine Tourism. This modernised legislation covering cellar doors will allow the delivery of premium wine experiences our tourists expect. Did you know overseas drinkers of New Zealand wine are far more likely than average to seriously consider New Zealand as a visitor destination?

René de Monchy, CEO of Tourism New Zealand, shared why wine and tourism is a perfect pairing for destination storytelling that can drive huge commercial benefits for Brand New Zealand and Brand New Zealand wine.

Mark Tanner - Founder and Managing Director, China Skinny

Interconnections - Building Consumer Connections: lessons from China

Mark Tanner, Founder and Managing Director of Shanghai based research consultancy, China Skinny, which provides localised market research and strategic guidance for foreign businesses looking to succeed in China.

China's consumer market has become one of the most dynamic and competitive on the planet, forcing brands to innovate in their marketing and sales channels. Mark shared some nuggets about how brands are adapting to the market which are relevant for selling wine into China, and other markets such as the US, Australia, EU which are following many of the trends.

Mark’s view on the China market has been quoted by more than 200 international media outlets and he regularly provides commentary in publications such as the NY Times, Bloomberg, FT, WSJ, Reuters and Forbes. Mark is a regular keynote speaker both in China and internationally from Helsinki to Hong Kong, Barcelona to Beijing and Shanghai to Sydney and many places in between.

Click here to hear what Mark Tanner has to say about the Altogether Unique 2024 Wine Business Forum

Kevin Roberts - Founder, Red Rose Consulting

An On Ramp like No Other: The NZ Wine Edge

Kevin Roberts is the former worldwide CEO and Chairman of Saatchi and Saatchi having worked for many decades on the world's best-known brands. As a CEO for over two decades including Lion Nathan NZ and Pepsi Cola Canada, Kevin consults to leading consumer goods and beverage companies as someone who knows more about brands and strategy than most people on the planet. A seasoned global strategist and creative thinker, Kevin is in demand around the world as a motivator for blue chip brands and industry leaders. Kevin spoke on why now is an even better time than any other for New Zealand wine to win on the beverage superhighway. ‘The Time is Now’.

Click here to hear what Kevin Roberts has to say about the Altogether Unique 2024 Wine Business Forum