Fosters Wine Estates CEO Jamie Odell does indeed expect his company to benefit in the short term by having an under-supply of fruit and being able to source additional requirements through contracts and the spot market. The spot market, he says, would largely be deployed to fill out the bottom level of the inherited Southcorp brands, which also includes a significant wine cask business (something new to the former Beringer Blass). Broadly speaking, Fosters will adapt the model it has deployed to expand and market the Wolf Blass range across the lower end of the Southcorp portfolio, with a strong focus on contract winemaking and fruit purchasing. ‘By taking money out of the inefficient back end of the business, we can spend more on investing in brands, especially in above-the-line activities where we have had an unusual level of success for the wine industry’, he says.
