One of the success stories of Australian wine export and a winner of the Maurice O’Shea Award to recognise this achievement, Jacob’s Creek is finding the going tough in its most important overseas market, the UK. The popular sponsor of Wimbledon, whose name has to some degree been synonymous with Australian wine in the UK since its launch there in 1976, suffered a 19% decline in sales volume last year in this increasingly price and discount-driven market. According to Euromonitor, a research group that tracks the industry, this decline might be linked to an average price increase of bottles of Jacob’s Creek wines of 25p up to 5.15 pounds. Pernod Ricard, owners of Jacob’s Creek, has steadfastly refused to ‘enter the volume game’ and will continue to work to build and maintain the reputation of its key brand. The relaunch of the Jacob’s Creek Reserve range as selections from individual wine regions should give the company plenty of brand-building ammunition.
