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AFFALTRACH WINE CELLARS A delight for all the senses Now more than 75 years old, the Schloss Affaltrach wine cellars are headed by the third generation of Baumanns, Reinhold and Thomas – under whose leadership sales have nearly doubled in the last few years. Schloss Affaltrach offers a first-class range of wines, both still and sparkling, that have won prize after prize. Thomas Baumann, you have been successfully holding your own against stiff competition for many years. What’s your secret? Flexibility. We are flexible at all levels and in all our processes. As soon as we detect a market need, we look for a way to meet it – rapidly and unbureaucratically. We also attach great importance to giving our customers personal service. Around 85% of German sparkling wine comes from three major producers. We operate in the smaller segment: the remaining 15%, where we focus exclusively on niche markets. I’m convinced that’s where our strength lies: it gives us a healthy cost/benefit ratio. What we want isn’t further growth – it’s to produce topquality wine, and to establish our reputation among specialist wine retailers and first-class restaurants. Our own brands account for around 95% of the sparkling wine we sell. What makes you different from other wine producers? We pursue a solid added-value strategy for specialist retailers and the hotel and restaurant trades. Volume is not a factor. There are very few producers who make both still and sparkling wines. In 1972, after supplying us with grapes for many years, 69 wine growers established a cooperative and registered it as an association. Today it has 250 members, who between them cultivate over 200 hectares of vines in Württemberg’s famous wine-producing regions. Every grape they harvest comes to us at Schloss Affaltrach. We also have vineyards of our own – about 20 hectares – that we use for experimentation, passing the results on to our growers. By constantly investing in state-of-the-art equipment, we ensure optimum quality at all stages – from harvesting to processing and ultimately to distribution. What is the state of today’s wine market? Unlike other wine-growing countries in the EU, unfortunately, consumers in Germany don’t always appreciate the wines that are produced in their own country. On top of that, aggressive pricing and price dumping – particularly with foreign wines in the discount segment – are having serious long-term effects on the buying behaviour of German consumers. We combat this by conducting various point-ofsale campaigns, tastings and the like, in order to bring our wines to the consumers’ attention. We also have 50 agents selling our wines on commission. But whether we sell them direct or through agents, we always major on the personal relationship with the customer. How do you keep the loyalty of your staff, customers and partners? It’s my firm belief that you have to manage by example. But I can’t be an example if I’m just a manager: I have to be a human being too. This is true for our customers and staff alike. Customers see it as very important for me to look after them personally. And it’s very important for me to be able to rely on my staff at all times. They know that I find time to help them with their problems whenever I can, whether these be major worries or minor concerns. Our low staff turnover rate shows how much they appreciate that. We feel like members of an extended family: we are all there when we need each other. Can a partner – a packaging manufacturer, for example – help to optimize your working processes? Top-quality products that never give us any trouble are the alpha and omega of our business. Boxes, for example, have to be wellmade, meeting the quality standards we have set. Model never fails to meet our quality requirements. It has established itself as one of our regular suppliers, taking the initiative in suggesting innovations, alternatives and solutions to problems. An example: we wanted to switch from a multi-item gift set to a series that could be used for two, three, four or six bottles. Model, it must be emphasized, was the only manufacturer to supply a display that could be used for different bottle sizes. It presents the bottles on several different levels at the point of sale. Autumn is one of your busiest seasons. Can you take things a little easier at other times of the year? Since we make both still and sparkling wines, we really only have three «quiet» weeks in the year – in July and August. As soon as the grape harvest is over and the accounts have been finalized, I’m out with our customers and agents again. What are your priorities in the years to come? One of them is my family. I’d like to spend more time with my wife and three children. But apart from that, I naturally have a number of business objectives. I want to strengthen our position in our existing niche markets, as well as moving into new ones. We have an enormous, diverse range of products, which certainly needs thinning out over the next few years. Some of our processes are in need of optimization. On the other hand, we must go on modernizing in order to become even more flexible. As long as we can keep our feet on the ground, that is. 4
GIOVANELLI FRUCHTIMPORT Exotic energy sources Interview with Sergio Giovanelli Giovanelli Fruchtimport AG is a specialist importer and seller of fruit, vegetables and mushrooms. The company started small 75 years ago, selling citrus fruit from Italy from horse-drawn carts. When Bruno Giovanelli took over at the helm in the 1960s, its product range became more and more international. The first new lines were chanterelle mushrooms from Poland and asparagus from California. The company also operated a retail outlet in Frauenfeld, which has now grown into a company with 56 employees. Today it buys produce from all over the world and distributes it throughout Switzerland. Most produce is transported by air, then brought to optimum ripeness in the Giovanelli AG ripening chambers in Frauenfeld. «The vitamin content of the fruit is almost exactly the same as it was when it was picked», says Sergio Giovanelli. But the fruit still tastes «different», and this is due to a number of factors. Take the mango, for example – India’s national fruit. There are more than a hundred different varieties, but only very few of them can stand up to the rigours of a long journey. Emotion probably has something to do with it as well. Eating an exotic fruit in its natural surroundings, breathing its air and warmed by its sunshine, must give it a slightly different flavour. Giovanelli’s customers include major distributors and wholesalers supplying the catering and retail sectors. Its berries, asparagus, mushrooms and a huge range of exotic fruit are available 365 days a year. Ultimately it’s the consumer who decides what he wants, and what he wishes to do for the environment. Sergio Giovanelli compares consumer attitudes to those of tourists. Why go all the way to Paris to climb the Eiffel Tower when we have plenty of towers in Switzerland? What’s the point of flying to the Caribbean, with its fabulous beaches and crystal-clear water, when we have lakes to swim in at home? Not a lot of people know that many of our native fruit varieties came to us as exotic foreigners. The pear, for example: every Swiss consumes an average of nearly seven kilos of pears a year, but most of us don’t know that the pear tree originally came from China. Fruit is not a medicine, but it is full of vitamins and very healthy. It makes an important contribution to healthy eating. And because its appearance matters just as much as content and flavour, Sergio Giovanelli attaches great importance to the packaging of his produce – making every effort to ensure that the wrapping reflects the quality of what’s inside it. This is why the fruit is taken out of the bulk containers in which it is delivered, and repackaged in small quantities as each customer requires. Today there is a clear trend away from meat and towards mushrooms, and this is having perceptible effects on the Giovanelli range of produce. But leaving trends aside, Sergio Giovanelli is convinced that the movement towards healthy snacks for children in kindergarten (no sweets or chocolate) is very positive. He hopes it will spread to other schools as well. After all, fruit is the ultimate fast food. Led by Romeo and Sergio Giovanelli, the company now sells rich sources of vitamins whatever the season – though the supplier countries follow the natural cultivation cycle. So although strawberries, for example, are imported from the four corners of the world, locally-produced fruit takes precedence when it’s in season. It is simply not possible to meet the requirements of the market by offering only local fruit and vegetables. Exotic fruit isn’t always properly marketed, more’s the pity. Giovanelli AG is determined not to make that mistake: it takes an active role in the market, educating its customers and consumers. It shows them the best ways of preparing and presenting fruit, helping them to enrich their diet by adding diversity to it. Giovanelli’s suppliers must undergo specialist testing and achieve prescribed quality standards. For example, no produce is obtained from suppliers who employ child labour or fail to pay a fair wage. 5
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