The Australian, Entrepreneur:
Victoria Angove continues to push her family’s heritage further, Ed Charles reports.
BEING the fifth generation of family to enter a business founded in 1886 doesn’t preclude Victoria Angove from being entrepreneurial.
At the age of 29 she is charged with developing the Angove’s wine company’s international markets to diversify export risk and build sales, which is like building a new company itself.
That said, there are also many benefits of selling an established family business abroad.
Angove’s grew out of the medical practice of Dr William Thomas Angove who began producing wines and spirits as medicines for his patients.
Having family stories such as this are a boon to sales, especially in Asia where family and ancestors are honoured.
“There are lots of quirky family stories along the way and people like stories,” Victoria Angove says. “And in a sales environment stories are half of the sale.”
Of almost 2 million cases produced each year, more than 1 million are exported. Britain and the US take the lion’s share but Asia, where about one in 10 cases are sold, is expected to double in sales during the next five years. Currently, the main Asian markets are Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
“It (Asia) is an area where more and more the aspirational consumer is seeking out wine. There is a lot more business travel, there is a lot more exposure to Western styles. Many things Western, including wine, are really being sought out,” she says.
Angove is not sitting around and letting other people develop the family company for her. She has always been a hard worker. In 1993, she was named the South Australian Young Achiever of the Year and was a national finalist in the Young Achiever of the Year Awards.
Now she works long hours and spends three weeks a month, 10 months a year, travelling, which poses both personal and business challenges.
On the business side she has to understand the whims of consumers in each market. She says each country has extraordinary differences in terms of business culture, food profiles, socialising styles. Often this is manifest in their drinking practices.
She says many stories of people adding Coca-Cola and Sprite to wine are overstated but she has seen it done. These people are simply challenged by the tannins in red wines and part of her job is to educate on the different types and characteristics of wine.
“The culture of drinking is so different if you are in China, or if you are in Singapore or Malaysia. It is really hard to make a generalisation,” she says. There are areas where sweeter blends are preferred and other areas where drinkers want premium wines which may contain the palate-challenging tannins.
“In China among businessmen, wine is something that brings them together. They drink wine as a shot.
“A way for the Chinese to build face is to show they have the capability of drinking extraordinary quantities of these shots. It’s quite eye opening for me.”
When she started working on international markets, her first job was to appoint local sales agents. The Angove’s policy is to be if not the only Australian brand, the largest with each agent.
Five years ago many countries weren’t even on the radar for the medium and smaller wine companies. It was part of Angove’s success to be an early entrant to many export markets. “Making sure we are in the market at the right time is critical,” Angove says. Markets tend to develop quite slowly and Angove works with locals to develop different channels. Some wines — often the sweeter ones — are aimed at supermarkets and the premium brands are sold through the restaurant channel.
Agents need to be wine trained and winemakers’ dinners and other events are held. “It’s a fairly substantial undertaking to enter a country,” she says.
Behind all her work is the backing of a sales and marketing team and an infrastructure built by her father, John, who is managing director and chairman of the company.
She says: “I see myself as a conduit between the market and the customer base and the winery and sales and marketing team.”
There are lots of quirky family stories along the way and people like stories. And in a sales environment stories are half of the sale
Caption: Medicinal roots: Victoria Angove holds a glass of what’s good for you
Illus: Photo
BIOG: Victoria Angove
Column: Entrepreneur
Section: FEATURES
Type: Feature