Last edited: 22-Jan-2008 10:14 | About OER | © The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand
Nuhaka Hill Vineyard is located in Gisborne, which is the third-largest wine growing area in New Zealand with more than 20 wineries.
Most of the wine sold in New Zealand is through major liquor outlets, including the dominant supermarket business. Although these outlets also sell boutique and higher priced wines, they tend to be the domain of the thousands of restaurants throughout the country.
At the moment, Nuhaka’s wines are sold as follows:
The product and price range is as follows:
The product/sales ratios are as follows:
The winery shop is open Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.
Even though it is a popular wine, Ines is worried about the high percentage of sales of chardonnay in relation to other varieties. A bad season for the chardonnay vines will affect income dramatically. By adding cabernet to the range, she hopes to offset this risk.
Ines is also concerned about the percentage mark-up she loses in sales through the national wine distributor. She would like to reduce these distributor sales and increase the percentage of sales through mail order, at the cellar door, and by any other direct sales methods that you might be able to recommend. She would also like to increase export sales, as a much higher premium can be gained for wine sold overseas.
Increasing prices in New Zealand is not an option because of the Nuhaka Hill faces intense competition when selling its wine in New Zealand. The riesling and gewürztraminer in Ines’s range may withstand this price-lowering pressure because of their growing reputation. Ines thinks that putting their price up slightly may even increase sales. But the prices of the chardonnay and the new cabernet might have to be lowered, to counter buyer resistance to what is seen as high pricing, particularly in relation to imported wine.
The winery has won recognition for the quality of its wines through New Zealand wine competitions and magazine tastings. It has not entered any wines in overseas competitions. The national distributor used to organise in-store tastings at wine retail outlets, but Nuhaka Hill wines have not been part of these promotions for the past two years.
Surrounded by other wineries, Ines keeps a close eye on the strategies used by fellow winemakers in Gisborne. There seems no end to the creativity with which wines are promoted. She also realises that Nuhaka Hill Vineyard is not included on any of the local wine trail tour operators’ tours.
Ines would like to come up with an innovative approach to promote her current range and the new wine. At the same time, her budget for marketing will be limited to $40,000. This is because she needs to invest a considerable amount of money to start growing grapes for the new cabernet.
Last edited: 22-Jan-2008 10:14 | About OER | © The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand