Our 2024 Wine Supplier of the Year: Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits

Despite wine’s sales slump during the past few years, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits has managed to grow several of its wine brands, earning the title of Beverage Information Group’s 2024 Wine Supplier of the Year. The Crossings, Josh Cellars Reserve and Josh Cellars Prosecco, and Yellow Tail Pure Bright all received 2024 Growth Brands awards.

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits president Tom Steffanci shared the company’s success strategies over the past year.

Beverage Dynamics: What led to Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits’ success over the past year?

Tom Steffanci: While we are growing share and having success on several brands, we are not as far along as we hoped to be on other brands. The success we are having is a function of the right commercial plans and tactics executed with excellence, combined with excellent consumer marketing focused on building awareness and advocacy with our target consumers. We have forward-invested significantly in many brands, including The Crossings, Josh Cellars Reserve, Josh Prosecco and Yellow Tail Pure Bright.

BD: What challenges did your company have to overcome?

TS: The environment is very difficult and wine is declining in both value and volume. Consumers are less experimental and retailers are less open to expanding offerings. We have had to hone our storytelling, get better at account targeting, capture the right wine-by-the-glass opportunities and support our brands with carefully targeted consumer marketing.

We have an outstanding network of the best distributors in the country and built our plans in collaboration with them. We work arm and arm with them in executing the plans.

BD: What activations or programs were most helpful in growing The Crossings, Josh Cellars Reserve and Prosecco, and Yellow Tail Pure Bright?

TS: The Crossings has invested in new, eye-catching in-store display point of sale to reinforce the brand’s coastal positioning in the off-premise. We are also running an aerial advertising campaign along shorelines in key markets to help transport consumers into a vacation mindset and drive brand awareness. The Crossings also executed experiential sampling activations at key food and wine events to further encourage in-store purchase in target markets.

Increasing marketing investment during key sales periods helped contribute to growth for Josh Cellars Reserve. Reserve has its own outstanding advertising, as well as a different look and feel from base Josh. In November and December, we promoted the ‘Reserved For Gifting’ shopper solution program in the off-premise.

Josh Prosecco ran an in-store cocktail solution, developing approachable cocktail recipes to help drive display during the spring, and is driving trial with 21- to 34-year-old consumers. Josh Prosecco also launched a new digital ad campaign targeting millennials to drive increased awareness.

Along with an increased investment in digital paid media, Yellow Tail Pure Bright benefitted from consistent off-premise promotions and activations this past year. In the fall, Pure Bright launched disruptive in-store creative to grab shoppers’ attention during the season, and partnered with [cooking website] Delish to inspire consumers with fun pairings and cocktail recipes featuring Pure Bright wines.

During the winter, the brand capitalized on the consumer trend of ‘Dry January’ with the Pure Bright ‘Dry-ish’ January campaign, which included national consumer sweepstakes. Pure Bright also capitalized on a new brand collaboration with IHeart Radio, which included live consumer sampling of Pure Bright at major music festivals, supported by dedicated in-store displays. Pure Bright is enjoying very high repeat purchases as a result of its delicious liquid and all this activity.

BD: What do you have planned for 2024 for these wine brands?

TS: The Crossings will continue to build on the momentum the brand gained this past year, increasing investment in social media advertising and influencer collaboration. There are also plans to expand the brand’s coastal aerial advertising to additional key markets. The Crossings will also expand its better-for-you offering, Light Wave, to additional markets.

We will continue to support Josh Cellars Prosecco with digital media and dedicated POS displays, with an increased investment during the holidays. Josh Cellars Prosecco will also be poured at key events at music festivals across the country, as part of the larger Josh brand’s ongoing experiential activations. For Josh Cellars Reserve, we will continue to invest in digital and outdoor advertising focused on gifting, alongside premium display execution at retail during November and December.

Yellow Tail Pure Bright kicked off 2024 with another dedicated marketing push during January, including a return of the brand’s ‘Dry-ish Jan’ national sweepstakes, influencer collaboration, paid media and in-store POS. Pure Bright is also expanding activation and promotion beyond January. The brand is sampling at iHeart music festivals and Club Pilates to drive awareness among consumers in the wellness space. Pure Bright is also executing an influencer campaign to showcase the brand throughout the summer season.

Krystina Skibo is the Trade Managing Editor at Beverage Dynamics. Reach her at kskibo@epgacceleration.com. Read her recent piece, What’s Driving U.S. Beer Sales in 2024?

The post Our 2024 Wine Supplier of the Year: Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits appeared first on StateWays.

Despite wine’s sales slump during the past few years, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits has managed to grow several of its wine brands, earning the title of Beverage Information Group’s 2024 Wine Supplier of the Year. The Crossings, Josh Cellars Reserve and Josh Cellars Prosecco, and Yellow Tail Pure Bright all received 2024 Growth Brands
The post Our 2024 Wine Supplier of the Year: Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits appeared first on StateWays. Read More