Our producers
Long-standing relationships
At the heart of our business is a profound love for wine and a genuine appreciation for the individuals behind its creation. That is why, from our very inception in 1972, we have prioritised cultivating lasting relationships with our suppliers. Not only do we distribute their wines and spirits across a diverse range of the UK’s On-Trade and Off-Trade channels, we also act as their eyes and ears, collaborating with them to ensure their overall success in the market.
A large majority of our agencies even benefit from direct brand management from us. This approach allowed us to build an extensive portfolio of exclusive producers, many of which have been with Enotria since the very beginning. This relationship-focused ethos remains integral to our operations when exploring new suppliers. Our foremost goal is to collaborate with individuals who resonate with our vision, share our passion, and demonstrate a steadfast commitment to nurturing authentic and lasting relationships.
Sustainable producers
At Enotria&Coe, we prioritise the cultivation of enduring, sustainable relationships not only because they contribute to our business success, but because they reflect our respect for our suppliers and the invaluable work they do, too. In line with this commitment, we like to partner with like-minded individuals who share our passion for sustainability and ethical practices throughout our entire supply chain, an approach that we extend to our supplier selection process.
We place a strong emphasis on evaluating their environmental stewardship and commitment to sustainability. After all, we understand well that the earth plays a crucial role in producing the exceptional products we import into the UK. Therefore, we assess our suppliers' sustainable credentials on a regular basis to ensure alignment with our increasingly stringent standards and the expectations of our clients. Our diverse portfolio features a growing selection of organic certified wines sourced from various wine regions worldwide, from the vineyards of Champagne to the picturesque landscapes of Catalunya, and from the renowned terroirs of Piedmont to the green hills of Austria.
Technical team
Our specialised technical team to oversee supplier adherence across various criteria. The team assesses 261 data points for each product in our portfolio, covering aspects such as weight, packaging materials, laboratory analysis, ingredients, allergens, and certification compliance. We facilitate such a meticulous process through an industry-leading Product Information Management system.
This comprehensive approach enables us to monitor the certifications held by our producers and trace elements of our carbon footprint across the entire supply chain. We scrutinise everything from transportation to packaging and the recycling of products, ensuring a thorough understanding and management of our environmental impact.
Training and marketing
We recognise the pivotal role of staff training in driving sales, fostering engagement, staff satisfaction, retention, and overall personal well-being. This is why we provide our customers with a diverse range of training opportunities. One aspect of our training offerings includes WSET courses up to Level 3 in Wines, with a consistently high pass rate, and we are soon to introduce the Level 4 Diploma. Additionally, we extend training up to WSET Level 2 in Spirits, in line with our growing commitment to the spirits category. We also offer specialised training programmes that leverage the expertise of our buying teams.
Additionally, our commitment to wine and spirits education involves basic hospitality training for our customers' staff, addressing fundamental onboarding needs, and a “train the trainer” programme, which empowers customers to develop necessary skills to run their own educational sessions for staff. Recognising the diversity of the UK's drinks trade, we also offer bespoke sessions to meet specific needs that standard training programmes may not address, from in-depth regional explorations to specific producers.
In addition to imparting wine knowledge to our customers, we prioritise continuous training for our own staff, too. This extends beyond the buying and sales team, as all our employees have opportunities to enhance their understanding of, and love for, wine and spirits. To celebrate our 50th anniversary, for instance, our employees travelled around the globe to meet 50 of our exclusive partner producers. It is an approach that fosters a connected and immersed team, and ensures that everyone at Enotria lives and breathes the same air as the industry we serve.
Our customers
Strong partnerships
Building robust partnerships is integral to every aspect of our business. Just as we have cultivated enduring relationships with our producers, we replicate this commitment with our clients. Facilitating this connection is our dedicated sales team of 70 sales professionals, strategically positioned throughout the entire UK. This extensive network ensures that our customers, regardless of their geographical location, can always rely on localised support – a familiar face who understands their needs.
Our account managers’ approach transcends the conventional responsibilities of a sales team. With our account managers stationed in the same region as our customers, they can provide valuable assistance, offering guidance and suggestions tailored to the nuances of the local market.
Obsessive product knowledge
Our deep passion for wine and the strong bonds we foster with our producers drive our commitment to ensuring that their products receive the utmost respect in the UK market. We conduct regular seminars and masterclasses featuring our producers for both our customers and our sales team to cultivate thorough product knowledge. Additionally, we provide comprehensive product tech sheets online, meaning that detailed technical information is always just one click away.
Moreover, our sizable annual tasting event in London serves as a platform for the UK drinks trade to sample our extensive portfolio and engage with more than 150 suppliers. This event not only showcases the diversity of our offerings, but also provides an opportunity for meaningful connections and familiarisation with the producers behind our wines and spirits.
Commitment to excellence
At the core of our ethos lies an unwavering commitment to excellence, which manifests in the robust partnerships we cultivate with them and the deep respect we have for our suppliers’ liquids and our customers’ work. It informs everything we do at Enotria, from how we serve clients to how we collaborate with producers and contribute to the enrichment of our industry.
Environmental factors
Route optimisation
We employ various strategies to minimise our environmental impact throughout the supply and delivery processes. For European shipments, we prioritise rail services due to their lower emissions compared to road and air transport. 90% of our Italian shipments, for instance, are transported by rail, contributing to approximately half the carbon emissions compared to road transport. For longer journeys, we employ feeder services to reduce road miles and alleviate congestion at port and container terminals.
Additionally, we increasingly use 24,000-litre Flexitank containers to import high-volume wine, which is then packaged in lightweight glass bottles closer to the final delivery point. This approach results in a 50% reduction in carbon emissions per litre compared to shipping the wine in traditional glass bottles. As for our national deliveries, all our diesel vans are EU Cat 6 & ULEZ compliant, and we are actively exploring electric vehicle (EV) fleet options. To optimise the carbon efficiency of our delivery routes, we utilise the Paragon Routing system. This system enables our drivers to plan the most environmentally friendly routes, while still ensuring that all wines and spirits are delivered precisely when and where our customers need them.
SWRT/Harper Sustainability Charter
While we appreciate the growing attention to sustainability and environmental concerns in the industry, we believe that true, meaningful progress can only be achieved through a proactive approach. This proactive stance is crucial for effectively addressing these issues and ensuring the long-term viability of the wine industry. In line with this approach, Enotria is engaged in working groups and think tanks alongside other dedicated industry members. We are a proud founding member of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR), a collaborative platform committed to advancing sustainability throughout the global wine industry, spanning from production to retail. An exemplary initiative undertaken by the SWR and its members is the “Bottle Weight Accord”. This agreement, endorsed by some of the world's leading retailers, aims to reduce the weight of 750ml still wine bottles to 420g by the end of 2026. Demonstrating our commitment to this cause, we have set a goal to achieve this target one year ahead of the agreed schedule.
In addition to our involvement in the SWR, Enotria participates in Harper's Sustainability Charter as one of its three Sustainability Champions. This group comprises companies collaboratively working towards initiatives that advance the discourse on sustainability in the wine industry and raise awareness about sustainability issues.
Sustainability barometer
As a leading wine and spirits supplier in the UK, catering some of the world's top brands to a diverse and sizeable range of on- and off-premise businesses, we recognise the unique opportunity and responsibility we have to foster environmental responsibility both upstream and downstream in the industry. Being in such an influential position, it is our duty to spearhead change. Hence, we have set an ambitious goal to achieve full carbon net zero across our entire supply chain by 2050. To realise this goal, collaboration with, and support for our producers are essential.
We actively assist them in monitoring their sustainability performance and facilitate gradual improvements. Our principal initiative is the “sustainability barometer”, an annual report that tracks the environmental progress of each of our exclusive suppliers. The insights gained from the sustainability barometer enable us to identify and showcase best practices, which we then share with all producers and customers to promote continuous improvement. This report not only aids customers in making more informed choices by highlighting our greenest producers, it contributes to an industry-wide commitment to ongoing improvement, too.