If you were pulling together a jigsaw of all the most important wine distributors, importers and suppliers to the UK on-trade then there would be some very big pieces you would need to have in order to complete the overall puzzle. But if you are focusing just on the south of England, the M4 corridor and the south west, then Nectar Imports would have to be one of the first pieces you pick up.
Nectar is a distribution business that has quietly, but significantly, built up over the last 35 years, firstly as an independent business, and then in 2015 as part of Fuller Smith & Turner and now provides in-house on-trade distribution for Asahi UK following the company’s acquisition of the Fuller’s drinks and distribution business in 2019.
Nectar's head of wine William Stephens is proud of the wines and team the business has been able to bring together
A deal that marked a major shift in direction for the Asahi Group in the UK, giving it a direct route to market for its impressive list of power beer brands including Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Pilsner Urquell, Grolsch, Meantime, Cornish Orchards, London Pride, ESB and Dark Star.
It also meant Nectar was now responsible for supplying an even wider range of premium beers and ciders to a growing network of on-trade customers. It also gave it the platform, and backing, to really get behind its wine division that had been such a key part of the Fuller’s offer between 2015 and 2019.
It is also where William Stephens had been able to make his mark on the Fuller’s business as part of the wine development team under Neil Bruce, before being promoted to wine category manager on the back of the Asahi deal in 2020 and then head of wine in January 2024.
He is in no doubt about the impact that Asahi has been able to have: “Asahi has super charged the Nectar business. It has helped make us even more of a progressive, people focused, premium beer, cider and wine business. We have now really been able to develop the business with Asahi,” he says.
Ambition to grow
Fundamental to that growth has been what Stephens and his team have been able to achieve with its wine offer. The challenge was there from the start, he says. “We have had to match Asahi’s ambition.”
An ambition that has allowed it to build on what it was able to achieve at Fuller’s, not only creating a wine list to suit the needs of its nearly 400-strongpub estate, with which it continues to work closely via a long-term supply agreement, but a range that saw it supply wines to over 500 independent on-trade customers.
Now with Asahi it has the freedom and the platform to grow its wholesale and distribution business even further and really ramp up its own buying, sourcing with a greater focus on own label, exclusive brands and an expanded, creative, but efficient portfolio.
The Asahi name and scale of business has given Nectar a stronger footing in the market
Having the “Asahi” name behind the company has been a big help in bringing in new producers and giving them the “reassurance” they are looking for, says Stephens.
They can also take advantage of Asahi’s extensive global shipping and logistics network and all the advantages that brings in terms of guaranteeing shipping routes and availability. Factors that now have a big bearing on which importers major producers want to work with, he adds.
Nectar now has more than 300 wines in its range that it carefully segments between supplying either its Fuller’s pubs or its wholesale on-trade customers with clear lines between the two. It has worked hard over the last 18 months to really drill down into both its range and customers and develop a portfolio of more premium wines to suit and attract the growing number of premium outlets it is working with.
Nectar has been able to “take the next step” and move from a range that was three years ago largely “easy access imported wines” to its own exclusive range directly sourced by the Nectar wine team that covers everything from house wines through to producers ideal for premium and fine dining.
It is now importing wine from 60 suppliers across 17 countries and sourcing both branded and own label and exclusive blends - including some lower ABV wines from South African specialist producer Riebeek.
“Up to 95% of our wines are now UK exclusive and directly imported by us. That is the only model we can work with. Quality is non-negotiable. It trumps everything,” he explains. “We are not the finished article yet.”
The bulk of the range currently comes from Europe, but Stephens is keen to develop and build on its “deep sea” range too.
Experienced team
Nectar's sales and development teams work directly with customers and their staff to help them better understand the wines in their range
To help develop its wines has also meant investing in a top team and Nectar now has a widely experienced sales and development team who have worked for a number of major importers and agencies and each have 10 to 15 years of wine trade experience.
All the team currently hold or are studying towards WSET Diploma. They include:
- William Phaure: Has 25 years in the trade, ex Harrods, Enotria, Berkmann and Fullers.
- William Baber: Has 30 years drinks experience, ex-Yapp Brothers, ex-wine importer and previous owner of a multi award-winning specialist wine and spirit retailer.
- Nick Daniell: Has 20 years in trade, ex-sommelier, own wine consultancy business, and ex-The Vintner, John Armit.
- Tom Haigh: Ex-Averys, Majestic and studying towards WSET Diploma.
“It’s why we are winning so much new business. It is because of their experience. They also challenge and learn from each other,” adds Stephens who says it takes time to find the right people - five months in one case - but that patience pays off in spades once they are in place.
"We have a highly experienced, and perfectly balanced group. It's rare to find a team that has such a diverse background in all areas of buying, sales and supply. It allows us to really assess each and every wine, and supplier that we put our names to. We're a collective, and we speak transparently, and trust each other implicitly,” he explains.
“Though their titles are 'sales managers', their jobs are much more varied. This week alone they have brought new suppliers to the table, won multiple new accounts, re-tendered for existing business and then spent hours internally training both our staff and our customers - and then driven the occasional samples order out for a tasting at the last minute. The team are brilliant, and I personally learn a lot working with them.”
Combined offer
Nectar's trade tastings are a chance to showcase the company's full offer
It is also now, vitally, supported by Asahi’s 18 free trade account managers, as part of the Asahi direct free trade business, with a clear strategy to supply wine to each of their customers. A team it is working hard to “upskill” with WSET knowledge.
But it is very much a two-way opportunity, stresses Stephens, with Nectar’s wine offer now opening new on-trade doors for Asahi and its beers. To make it all work requires a close working relationship between all at Nectar and Asahi UK, stresses Stephens.
“We are able to offer the best of both worlds,” he adds. “Asahi and Nectar are now effectively the same entity with Nectar Imports officially ‘a part of Asahi’ i.e. the direct free-trade arm of Asahi. We have abroad team within Asahi and are all under the same company umbrella.”
It also means it has such a diverse customer base, from mainstream pub chains, right through to fine dining restaurants. “Everyone and everything really,” says Stephens.
In such a tough trading environment it is vital to be able to offer customers as much choice and flexibility as you can. “It is extremely competitive out there but we still see great opportunities to grow the wine business. And as our range develops so our business will grow even more.”
Stephens says it does not have a dedicated wine buyer as such, but rather prefers to work with the full team to be constantly tasting and refining the range based on feedback from customers.
“We will go round the table and what look at what wines might work in our range,” says Stephens will all team members expected to put wines forward to taste.
Data and analysis
Nectar is also able to take its customers out to visit its producers - like here at Balfour the English winery
Again it is able to lean on the wider Asahi group to keep on top of drinking and economic forecasting trends, consumer spending, and changes in behaviour in order to glean valuable future sales insights.
“Category and data analysis is key to what we do. We want to work to a needs driven model that is based on the overall drinks category and not just wine,” explains Stephens.
Analysis that also goes into demographics and identifying the different opportunities there might be within certain age groups and profiles of customers and what might dictate changes to their behaviour now, but also over the next three to five years.
It also has its sales and tracking data from the Fuller’s pubs to dissect and analyse as well as what it is selling into the free trade wholesale market. The opportunity is now there to use this insight with its customers as well as to help plan its own sourcing and buying.
It means it is constantly “health checking” its range to make sure it is not over or under indexing in any particular area. It is also starting to use AI to determine what wines and regions it should be looking and tasting.
“We really take it that seriously,” he says. “Data plays a huge part in what we do. It provides us with so many sales insights.”
All in all it means Nectar hopes and expects its share of the UK on-trade distribution market to grow in the coming years - and with it the size of its “distribution jigsaw puzzle” too.
* You can find out more about Nectar and how it works at its website here.
