Barry Dick MW brought on board to help Origin Wine expand its global sourcing footprint

By Erin Smith

Published: 13 March, 2015

Origin Wine has brought in Barry Dick MW to help the company expand its global sourcing footprint.

Dick, the former commercial chief winemaker of Accolade Wines, will act as a consultant for Origin's consult wine supply base. He said it was an exciting time to be involved. "Origin Wine is a dynamic, creative, rapidly expanding and quick moving wine supplier with an increasingly diverse wine portfolio across both New World and Old World geographies. It's an ideal place to add my global experience and love for Classic as well as New World wines to deliver consumer appropriate wines," he said.

Dick's background and experience made him an ideal candidate for Orgin Wine's team. He previously sourced wines internationally for Sainsbury's for more than four years developing the retailer's own label brands.

Bernard Fontannaz the managing director of Origin Wine said it was about finding a perfect fit. "We believe that Barry shares our view and takes on the way to do business and to live the life, which is crucial for our team," he said.

The new appointment is a demonstration of the company's commitment to meeting its long- term growth targets as well as a larger commitment to conitnually improving the quality of wines it is sourcing and producing.

"With now 2 MWs working with Origin, it is a clear demonstration to our on-going commitment to deliver an enhanced quality which fits the consumers' expectations," Fontannaz said.

UK sales director Jon Woodriffe said it was of paramount importance to have external, experienced, and proven input at this stage in its development to ensure the quality of its new customer offer.

"We want to be consistent with our ambitious targets, hence this long-term agreement with Barry, to provide his state of the art experience and knowledge from both the supply and the buying side," he said.

Origin Wine over the past decade has become one of the leading wine exporters from South Africa. One in three bottles of South African wines sold in the UK is supplied by Origin Wine.

The company through the benefits of economies of scale has challenged the 'old-fashion' agency model.

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