DHL Global Forwarding aims to become the world’s leading wine logistics company through itsspecialist subsidiary Giorgio Gori, and is targeting the booming Asian market in particular.
Wine demand in Asia Pacific is soaring, with a surge in imports to Hong Kong, China and SouthKorea, in contrast to stable demand in large mature markets in Europe and North America, KelvinLeung, CEO DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, said at an international media briefing in HongKong. “Wine is a growing commodity in Asia, and is growing at double-digit rates,” he said.
Hong Kong in particular has established itself as an international wine trading and distributioncentre after import duties were scrapped, and has become the world’s largest location of fine wineauctions, he explained.
In response, DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) has set up a wine logistics hub in Hong Kong to storeand distribute expensive fine wines that require special handling, and is also providingadded-value services such as customs labelling for export into China. About 100,000 bottles enterand leave the hub every month.
Riccardo Pazzgalia, sales and marketing director of Giorgio Gori, a specialist wine logisticscompany 60% owned by Deutsche Post DHL, said that the Italian-based firm has created a ‘wine &spirits’ competence centre for the group.
Gori, with 250 employees at 14 locations in nine wine exporting countries, has a large marketshare on its existing trade routes and now plans to expand with new locations and routes. Ithandles about 40 million of the 130 million 12-bottle cases of wines shipped worldwide everyyear.
Leung said that well-established Giorgio Gori would be DHL’s “spearhead” in the wine logisticssector. “With the Giorgio Gori brand we can position ourselves, while DHL can help Gori expand,” hecommented. There are no plans to acquire the minority 40% shares in the firm, he stressed.
