Any good wine importer can be judged on relationships they have with their producer partners for it is one thing listing someone’s wine, it is quite another to truly represent them in the best interests of both companies.
Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France has not only worked with many of the producers it represents for close to 50 years it has celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions with them all through the economic highs and lows of the past four decades.
It is that level of trust and understanding that you simply can’t buy, says Cécile Lavaud-White. “We have worked with some of our producers for such a long time and have developed deep relationships with them,” she says.
Cécile Lavaud-White has taken on the French specialist wine importing business from her parents
It’s also why it only represents and works with only one producer per wine region across France. “We don’t put producers up against each other. That is just not what we do,” she stresses. “We work with them on an exclusive basis. Which is the way it should be.”
She says Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France is most at home working with strong family businesses - for that is what it is too. She is very aware of living up to the standards
that her parents, Denise and François Lavaud, set ever since they started the company back in 1984.
They originally set the company up as a Languedoc Roussillon specialist, on the bequest of a number of local producers, who were looking to find their way into the UK market, but soon expanded their sights and developed a portfolio of wines that covered every major wine region in France. Which is essentially what the business continues to do today.
The business has also built strong, long-standing relationships with its trade customers over the last 40 years too, with a range of wines that work as well in the off or on-trade. Its model is to offer ex-cellar wines to the UK trade, and works directly with major supermarkets, distributors importers and regional wholesalers who then go on and do the direct sale through to their customers. It also supplies and works directly with independent wine merchants.
Value and quality
Lavaud-White says its customers can hopefully trust them to only supply quality wines that offer the best possible value at that price point. “We don’t do entry level and we don’t do super premium,” she stresses.
But an increasing amount of its work is creating exclusive blends and bespoke wines for its customers.
“We can do what our customers want. We can present them with ideas and then go from there and build a product together. It means we can be very flexible.”
The fact it has such long-standing relationships with its core set of producers means it knows they have the right certifications and accreditations needed to get major own label and exclusive contracts across the line. Including the latest organic and sustainability credentials that major retailers and distributors are looking for.
“We have a history of working with them over many years and can tell them what has and has not worked. We have that industry knowledge. It saves a lot of time for buyers,” she stresses.
One stop for France: Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France's producers come together every year at the London Wine Fair
It means it needs to be on top of what is working in the market so that it can be looking to present and develop new ideas for customers, says Lavaud-White. It has, for example, had good success in recent years with crémant out of Limoux and rosé wines from IGP Mediterranean as an alternative to Provence.
“That has become a real sweet spot for rosé,” she adds, where the right bottle shape can be as important as the price.
She says there is currently strong demand for quality wines “across all the French classic appellations” particularly for producers with “a strong story from a classic region that also offers great value too”.
Quick to adapt
Some parts of France are also well placed to offer wines that are more in line with the new ABV-driven UK duty system - the Loire, for example, is enjoying fresh demand, as are its rosé d’Anjous that sit naturally at around 10.5-11% ABV.
“It depends which region you are in. Duty has changed everything. Everyone is asking about ABV now and we have to get that right,” she says. “It has added a lot more admin and bureaucracy too,” she says. “It means buyers are looking around a lot more and are open to recommendations.”
All of which means French producers are far more flexible and willing to change and adapt their wines than they might have been a few years ago.
“They are trying to be at the forefront of what their customers are looking for. They are adapting their wines and changing their packaging,” she adds. “They are no longer sticking to what they know.”
They are also having to look at the impact of EPR and packing costs and bottle weight has become another part of the “sales” conversation.
“We have thankfully already done a lot of that work in France when it comes to average bottle weight. It is more the administrative side of things that is so hard and we are having to dedicate several hours a week to it which is another cost in itself as well as the time.”
Fun of the fair
The French producers work with Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France on an exclusive basis
We had the chance to catch up during this year’s London Wine Fair where Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France is arguably more at home than the actual current organisers having being an ever-present at the show since the early 1980s when it was held at what has become the Kensington Roof Gardens.
“All our customers like to see us here and it is a chance for them to meet all our producers and their export managers as well,” she says, looking at her appointments with a long list of supermarket buyers, national on-trade customers, cash and carries and independents.
“We don’t do our own portfolio tasing so the show is so important for us. We would rather be at the fair and share our stand with all our producers and save costs that way. They think it is very worthwhile and it is where we can both get the most visibility. It’s great for finding new distributors and meeting our existing customers and hopefully picking up new listings for our wines with them.”
Key position
She believes companies like Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France have a key role to play in the trade. They may not have the scale and clout of the giant national distributors, but in terms of supplying its customers with market focused, commercially effective wines from such an important country as France then there are not many other businesses that can do what it can.
“If you went back 15 years ago there were a number of companies like ours. Family-run businesses of a certain size. But many have moved on and and there are certainly not many French specialists around. It is gives us a big advantage. France is our main focus. It is our USP. We have carved out our own niche,” explains Lavaud-White. “This is what we do and what are are known for.”
* If you would like to find out more about Les Producteurs et Vignerons de France go to its website here.
