Purchasing Unison Vineyard in 2007, the Halls appreciated the challenge that lay ahead.
Determined to outflank the recession that continues to hobble even the most experienced operators in the wine industry, they continue to add value to their business by identifying and building on niche competitive advantages of site and situation.
Of their progress in 2013, Philip says: “We’ve made huge strides when we could have taken the easy option, doing one project a year.”
While the Halls had no experience of winemaking when they moved to New Zealand, they did bring considerable business nous as well as commitment to their new career direction.
Philip had spent the previous 16 years with ASDA, a subsidiary of the American retail giant Wal-Mart, and as head of resources, he filled a very senior role.
Terry’s background is local government and human resources management. Having done her first degree in business with hotel and catering management, she went on to postgraduate studies in human resources management.
Busy lives meant the couple were seeing little of one another, and Philip also wanted to spend more time with sons Luke, now 15, and Oliver, 12. Checking out New Zealand, they quickly targeted Hawke’s Bay as the place to be. Philip enrolled at EIT to study for a Certificate of Grapegrowing and Winemaking and recognising Unison as a good fit for their needs, they snapped up the winery soon after it came on the market.
The business model they took over was to make half the tonnage into wine, selling the balance of the fruit to generate cash flow.
“One year, the cheque didn’t come in for the grapes we’d sold,” Philip says, “and we also nearly got caught with someone else going into receivership. As a result, we decided never to sell grapes to anyone again.”
As he points out, Unison has the facilities to utilise all its fruit and is now making more margin by selling part of its production as bulk wine. Happily, prices have almost doubled in the last two years.
“We don’t believe in going down the discount road. Once you start, you’re chasing your tail for ever and a day.”
The Halls, along with other Hawke’s Bay producers, are building export ties with China and, happy with their distributor, they are hoping that this market will become huge for them. They are also selling into the USA and Singapore and looking at Australia.
In 2011, they set up a bottling and labelling facility for their own use and to meet the needs of small producers like themselves.
“We checked with other local wineries first to see if they would use the services and they said they would,”
Committing $650,000 to the project, the Halls imported state-of-the-art plant from Italy, housing it in a specially modified on-site building.
“It’s going to be a hole in the balance sheet for a year, and we will have to get over that.”
The financial commitment is already proving worthwhile, however, and Philip expects that side of the business will get bigger every month.
Unison is a member of the Hawke’s Bay Boutique Winemakers – an association that encompasses about a dozen of the region’s owner-operators producing less than 10,000 cases a year.
Through their cooperative efforts, the group is able to target niche marketing opportunities such as mini wine and food festivals held at different members’ cellar doors each month over the busy visitor season. By working together, the association can wield greater buying power “to even things out a bit with the big boys”.
Opening an eatery had been on the Hall’s to-do list from the outset, but the pair held off when they saw that other wineries were closing their restaurants. Having determined what food businesses do best in Hawke’s Bay, they launched their family-friendly Unwined Café on the 8ha property shortly before the New Year.
The Halls have worked up their own recipe to make their eatery a success.
As a point of difference, Unison’s blind ginger beer tastings are proved popular with children, sober drivers and pregnant mothers.
Taking advantage of Hawke’s Bay’s recently established Wineries Ride, Unison links up with Terry’s sister, who runs a bike hire business and will deliver bicycles and trail maps to the 8ha property.
Wanting to build on their location in the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District, Philip has floated the idea of Unison also selling neighbouring producers’ wines.
Philip says it’s important that small owner-operators don’t have all their eggs in the one basket. With that philosophy, it seems likely that the Halls will continue hatching new ideas aimed at sustaining and growing their business. ν
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
