For all the awards that Hallgarten & Novum Wines have stacked up over the last few years, it is the achievements and accomplishments it has made in driving a comprehensive diversity and equity strategy through the business that has really helped take the business to another level.
Just how well set up you are to truly represent the needs and opportunities of people from all backgrounds is what is increasingly separating the good businesses from the best in class. Hallgarten Wines is certainly helping to set benchmarks for the rest of the industry to live up to.
Managing director, Andrew Bewes is quick to stress both the sustainability measures and ED&I commitments that the business has made have been the right things to do, but they have also come at a time when its more elevated status within the national distribution sector, has made it a “commercial necessity” as well as a moral one.
Andrew Bewes says Hallgarten's award-winning ED&I strategy is a "commercial" and "moral necessity”
When it was acquired by Coterie Holdings in 2023 it moved into a different lane of major distributors and the fact it already had a leading sustainability and ED&I strategy has helped fast track that position.
Particularly when it comes to pitching for and winning more major national accounts and moving into the areas of working with major sporting events and supplying big sports stadiums and venues.
Key elements to any major tender process will cover a company’s finances, and their sustainability, and ethical and diversity credentials. The Coterie deal very much ticks the financial side of things, and the work it has been doing over the last five years to track and implement sustainability measures all through its supplier supply chain, coupled with the ED&I initiatives it has long introduced have all been major contributory factors too, says commercial director Will Oatley.
When going for major tenders your environmental, sustainability and ED&I policies are “part and parcel” of the pitch, he adds. “It’s a necessity.”
In June, for example, it released its 2025 edition of the Hallgarten Eco Standard report, benchmarking, analysing and measuring the sustainability credentials of all its producers partners.
Oatley says that whilst in the past the sustainability story was being driven more by the producers and what they are doing in the vineyards, now the real energy and drive in the sector is coming from the major players like Hallgarten.
“It also impacts on the type of agencies that want to join us which is fantastic,” adds Oatley.
Industry effort
It’s why Hallgarten is very much behind and involved in what trade bodies, such as the WSTA and Drinks United, are trying to do to promote the industry to a wider and more diverse potential future work force.
“We can’t do this on our own. We have got to work together as an industry,” says Bewes.
For it remains the case that people looking to work in wine tend to be white middle-class.
"Somehow we have got to reach people with more diverse background and show there is something here for them. Many in the industry are recruited from hospitality and this is one of the most diverse sectors in the country. Yet few of a diverse background see an opportunity for a career in wine.This is why we are asking our sales team to spot people they think have potential and bring them to a tasting or event just give them a feel for what is possible,” he says.
Hallgarten is a keen supporter of the Drinks UInited initiative to bring key bodies and figures across the industry to promote ED&I in the sector
He concedes most of the Hallgarten senior management team is currently male but stresses its middle-management team is more than 50/50 women to men and he would expect “several key positions in the business to be female” over the next five years.
“I am happy with the progress we are making but there is always room to do more. But I am happy to be ahead of the curve. Our employee project groups are also helping to drive awareness across the whole business and into our customer base.”
Trends and opportunities
Bewes says he is in a fortunate position to be able to look back on over 40 years working in the wine trade and he says ultimately the biggest overriding factor across all that time has been the ability of a wine supplier, importer or distributor to exclusively represent its producers in the market.
Which is why the sector is still dominated by the major national distributors that each have thousands of wines to offer to thousands of customers. It is that scale that gives them the buying power to be able to access the right producers and wines for their customers.
He says the one “surprise survivor” is the “out-and-out agency house”, which is usually baked by one of the major Champagne houses. “The challenge for them is how to get distribution for my shareholders and stakeholders without being able to directly supply couple thousands of restaurants like we and our closest competitors do.
“The way in which the restaurant industry is consolidating makes it harder and harder,” he adds.
“The days of 100 plus suppliers for your wine list are numbered. Restaurants now see the commercial and operational rationale of why they should consolidate their wine lists and flex their buying power. So adding on a port or a Champagne from multiple different agency houses is more and more challenging.”
Now all distributors and importers are having to work in a market where the majority of major restaurants are only working with handful of, he says, particularly at the more commercial end of their ranges.
“Also, operationally how many deliveries can a site being set up for. If you have 20 suppliers you then potentially have 20 deliveries a week on the wine side alone. So it makes sense for them to consolidate so that they know which day of the week they are going to get their wine delivery on. They can gear up efficiently for that. It is fascinating to watch.”
Hard times
Hallgarten is running a series of tasting events over the next two weeks to do offer the wines it believes will help its trade customers through these hard times particularly in hospitality
They are also having to deal with arguably the hardest trading conditions the on-trade and hospitality, in particular, has had to deal with.
It means Hallgarten, and its competitive set, are having to operate within the “grimness” of the overall trading picture where it too has had to grapple with the new duty regime and introduction of new costly packaging regulations, says Bewes.
Bewes says he is “constantly in awe” of how its customers “have the ability to cope with whatever is thrown at them”.
He adds: “The biggest change for me in my 40 years is the professionalisation of our customer base. Restaurants are better run, better organised and more focused on profit rather than chasing the dream of running a pub or restaurant. It has meant our industry has also massively professionalised and it is no longer good enough to be an affable person walking through your door. We need to add value.”
Which is why Hallgarten is doing all it can to meet and surpass all the challenges it is having to face.
“We don’t know what is around the corner, but we will cope with whatever it is. I think it is that pragmatic approach that customers appreciate. You ignore the basics at your peril,” he stresses.
Its customers also rely on Hallgarten being on top of any challenges that come its way. Particularly as up to 70% of its on-trade customers rely on Hallgarten for 100% of their wine offer and all the support, wine list and training services that come with it.
“There is a massive reliance on us to do everything necessary and make sure staff are trained, wine lists are well constructed and presented, and that stock is on hand,” he adds.
The new Coterie deal has given it the backing and investment to make sure it is best equipped to provide the support back the hospitality sector, in particular, is looking for.
- The Hallgarten tastings take place in Manchester on September 17, London on September 23 and Cambridge on September 29. Hallgarten’s main portfolio tasting will take place in London on February 2-3 2026. You can register and find out more about all of Hallgarten’s September tastings here.
- You can read the first half of this interview with Andrew Bewes and Will Oatley looking at Hallgarten's overall trading strategy here.
