A report released last week by KPMG warns of a difficult future for small and mid-sized players in the wine industry. The report examines the impact of polarisation within the business, and suggests that wine retailing has altered dramatically thanks to the grocery channel.


‘Shelf space…… is there room for me?’ by KPMG’s Wine Industry Group says that convenience retailers now require brand owners to adopt FMCG marketing and selling techniques to command shelf space, leaving small and mid-sized players at risk.


Destination retailers, however, are increasingly seeking a differentiated brand offer relative to that available to convenience outlets. So smaller brand owners now face the challenge of developing a differentiated offer, according to the report.


At the release of the report in Melbourne, KPMG Wine Industry Group chairman, Keith Smith, said: “Traditional on- and off- premise channels have been overlaid by a third dimension of convenience and destination outlets.”