The Buyer | Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Press Statement: Response from Andrew Bewes, managing director, Hallgarten & Novum Wines to Budget 2024

The enormity of this week’s budget statement will not be lost on anybody in the trade. The ramifications are far-reaching and will hit all businesses where it hurts, none more so than the drinks, hospitality and retail sectors. We fought long and hard alongside our competitors and the WSTA to get the government to see sense on duty, however, we must now turn our focus to how we help our trade customers manage what will be very significant changes to their wine lists as many wines, significantly those of higher ABVs, break their commercial price points.

Whilst the government contend that the average consumer is unaffected by the budget and that the increase in national minimum wage will put a few extra pounds into the back pockets of many lower paid workers, the policies announced will help fuel a perfect storm for the retail and hospitality sectors with higher prices for wine and significantly higher staff costs with the increase in wages and employers national insurance contributions. The inflationary pressure on business and ultimately consumers is inevitable, and this budget will have a material effect upon those eating out and drinking wine regularly.

The end of duty easement has been on the cards for many months which has allowed us the time to make plans to implement these 20+ duty rates on February 1.

From a technical perspective, we are in a position to handle this. The real challenge splits into two:

* Firstly, wine lists across the country will change shape significantly as the vast majority of wines are sold at between 12.5% and 14% and the bonus duty rise of 3.25% further means that almost every other wine on an average wine list will also see an increase in price. This needs to be communicated and implemented and our sales team will be on hand to help their customers through this first challenge.

* Secondly, and in fact the bigger challenge will be to helping our customers manage the fact that they will have a constantly changing cost base as wines move from one vintage to another. These customers have broadly been used to having an agreed price to take them through the duration of a wine list, allowing them to print their wine lists and programme EPOS systems with the certainly of a fixed cost price. We should not blow the scale of changing prices out of proportion – the ABV of many wines stays pretty constant from vintage to vintage - but it will only take one or two wines to change price for a printed wine list to be out of date.

Whilst the future may not have been made any brighter by the Budget, it is up to us to now manage the reality of the situation. Over the coming months we will be doing our utmost to support our partners through this and, potentially, the equally seismic impact of Extended Producer Responsibility. We will not stop fighting to protect and promote the wine, hospitality and retail sectors as we face a future full of challenge.

We will be launching a communications plan this side of Christmas to ensure that all of our trade partners are fully aware of the impending changes, and of the ongoing issue of how changing duty rates will affect their businesses. And finally, as you would expect, we have already charged our buying team to source wines of lower ABV and, where possible and without compromising quality, to reduce ABV on selected wines, particularly at entry level. Many of these wines will be showcased alongside the latest additions to our portfolio at our largest-ever annual tasting, being held at Old Billingsgate on January 27-28 2025.

Hallgarten & Novum Wines, The Annual Tasting 2025

January 28th-29th 2025

Old Billingsgate, London

10:00am – 17:00pm

RSVP to tasting@hnwines.co.uk

Hallgarten & Novum Wines acquired by Coterie Holdings

Following its recent announcement of the appointment of Michael Saunders as CEO, Coterie Holdings is delighted to share the news of its acquisition of Hallgarten & Novum Wines.

Widely regarded as one of the UK industry’s leading specialist wine importers, Hallgarten has been purchased by Coterie for an undisclosed sum from the Pieroth family.

Andrew Bewes, managing director for Hallgarten & Novum Wines and Howard Falk, Hallgarten’s chief fnancial officer, will continue to lead the business. Hallgarten joins fine wine merchant Lay & Wheeler, bonded storage facility Coterie Vaults, and wine lending business Jera as part of Coterie’s impressive portfolio of companies curated to support the buying, storage, trading, moving, financing, and drinking of fine wine.

With ambitious plans for strategic growth, the addition of Hallgarten to the group cements Coterie’s vision to deliver a unique, market leading fine wine group.

Michael Saunders, appointed CEO for Coterie Holdings, comments: “We are delighted to welcome Hallgarten into the Coterie family. A best-in-class business, as recognised by this year’s trophies from the International Wine Challenge, Drinks Business and the IWSC, Hallgarten’s addition to the group complements the other industry leading businesses already part of Coterie’s portfolio.

“With Hallgarten’s leading premium trade distribution, together with the long-standing relationships developed by the fine wine team at Lay & Wheeler, Coterie can now provide an unparalleled multi- channel offer to fine wine customers throughout the on and off trade.

“I am grateful to the Pieroth family for their stewardship of Hallgarten since 1972 and I look forward to supporting the business into an exciting new era. Having known Andrew for many years, I am also greatly looking forward to this opportunity to work with him as a colleague, rather than a competitor.”

Andrew Bewes, Hallgarten’s managing director since 2009 adds: “We are delighted to be joining the Coterie business. Hallgarten is a natural fit in the portfolio of premium wine businesses which offer obvious benefits and natural synergies to ensure our continued growth and success. Coterie fully back what we are doing in the market, and with the support of the wider group, I am looking forward to really accelerating our growth plans.

“On a personal note, I am very excited for the opportunity this brings and for a chance to work alongside Michael, whom I have known for over 30 years. There will be no change to the structure or management of Hallgarten, and it is very much business as usual as we continue to focus on our customers during this incredibly busy and important trading period.”

Hallgarten & Novum Wines joins Lay & Wheeler, Coterie Vaults and Jera under the Coterie Holdings group of fine wine businesses. Michael Saunders takes on the role of CEO of Coterie Holdings from 2nd January 2024.

Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Established in 1933, Hallgarten & Novum Wines celebrated its landmark 90th anniversary in 2023. One of the UK’s leading ‘specialist’ wine distributors, Hallgarten imports wines from producers in all corners of the winemaking world, supplying the country’s premium on and off-trade. With a portfolio of over 1,200 wines and a buying team led by one of the UK’s finest palates, Steve Daniel, alongside Master of Wine, Beverly Tabbron, Hallgarten are experts in wines unearthing from off the beaten track, coupled with a backbone of family-run producers from traditional winemaking regions.

Hallgarten Wines champions its people, sustainability and the wider wine industry through numerous industry-leading initiatives designed to position Hallgarten at the forefront of the sector. From its trailblazing Hallgarten Eco Standard, to its change-driven ED&I team, and strong category analysis and insights from its Customer Marketing team, Hallgarten is looking to shape the wine industry for the future.

In 2018, the business achieved the ISO 14001 accreditation for its dedication to minimising its environmental impact, as well as successfully meet all criteria to attain Investors in People accreditation. In recent years Hallgarten has been awarded the IWSC Wine Distributor Trophy 2023; The Drinks Business Drinks Company of the Year 2023 and Drinks Business On-Trade Supplier of the Year 2021; European Merchant of the Year in 2020 and 2019 by the Sommelier Wine Awards; and the prestigious International Wine Challenge On Trade Supplier of the Year 2023, as well as Merchant Wine List of the Year Award in 2019 and 2021.