Meet Paul Henry, the new occupant of the export hot seat

As the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation’s new General Manager Market Development, Paul Henry is now responsible for implementing the wine industry’s organised global export program. Right now, there is no more important or challenging position in Australian wine. Having managed the London office for Wine Australia for the past three years, Henry recently relocated to Adelaide with his wife and young family.

While still very new to the role, he brings a clear understanding of the nature of the challenge and how to address it.

‘Australia’s challenge is similar to any other country moving from a developing phase to a mature phase as an exporter’, he says. ‘It is to maintain growth while protecting margin and profitability. We need to resist the downward pressures imposed on prices by the fact that at present most markets are buyers’ markets.’

Henry believes there are problems if Australia is simply seen as a maker of everyday wine, and that it’s dangerous for Australia to be seen to be chasing big sales at ever-lower price points. ‘It’s not too ambitious for Australia to strive to be the beginning, middle and end of a consumer’s wine experience. We have the ability to be as inspirational as we are accessible’, he argues.

‘Our challenge is to create a framework that allows individual companies and brands to pursue their own commercial imperatives without diluting or cheapening the quality proposition that Brand Australian must seen to be in export markets. There’s a danger that as we mature in markets like UK and also the US, we don’t paint ourselves into corner as makers of purely ‘everyday’ wine. I’d prefer to say that Australian wine is ‘anyday’ wine, suitable for any occasion from an evening meal at home to a superior restaurant.’

While Australia’s strength has been its depth of quality ‘popular premium’ varietal wines, it has struggled around the world to be as well represented in the on trade as it is off premise. In the UK for instance, where one in every four bottles of wine purchased is Australian, Australian wine accounts for a mere 17 of the on-premise market.

‘Brand Australia has yet to become a point of reference for restaurant customers, largely because there is a lack of opportunity to discover what Australia can represent’, says Henry. ‘Even in a mature market like the UK, we are still to really engage the on-premise market in meaningful way. Beyond the generic proposition of Wine Australia, we need to communicate the messages of diversity, regionality and quality. Just as France and Italy do, we must promote what lies beyond our brands, our individuality and the vision of our winemakers.’

While the popular brands are often accused of damping down the image of Australian wine overseas, Henry says they’re not the villains they’re made out to be. ‘They have created fantastic momentum, a sense of anticipation and awareness, the broad base off a pyramid on which to build’ he says. ‘But we need to make sure that as their tastes and their ability to pay for wine evolves, consumers don’t have to leave the category.’

According to Henry, commentators are apt to misinterpret figures representing Australia’s export growth in the UK. ‘In many instances a slow down in growth is not a failure for us, but an indication of our success. By the time you’re a quarter of the market, you start moving like the market. You don’t get the exponential growth spikes you would have done 10 years ago’, he explains. ‘The truth is that we’re a quarter of the total market and still outperforming it by almost two to one by growth in volume and value. That’s acceptable and positive.’

Importantly, Henry also believes that while it also needs to build a larger market share, Australian wine also needs to build a larger market. ‘There is a sense of urgency. How do we identify the new UKs of tomorrow? Australia now has an emerging market program with specialised staff, it’s negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with China and is looking at collaborative promotional opportunities with other Australian industries such as food, tourism and fashion’, he says.

Paul Henry says that while Australia needs to continue to feed its mature markets like the US and UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, it must focus on new embryonic markets. China, India and Korea have been identified as emerging priorities by the AWBC, while eastern European markets with quickly changing commercial landscapes like Poland and Russia offer immediate opportunities. ‘Our challenge within the next year is to provide an extremely clear map for the shape and size of the opportunity those markets present today and over the next 36 months.’ Please login to post comment