Garçon Wines, the London-based inventors of globally-recognised, innovative, flat wine bottles is celebrating two major business milestones this month. June 2019 sees the UK-based start-ups’ first international debut with De Bijenkorf – the most prestigious department store in the Netherlands that is also part of the Selfridges Group – and a collaboration with personalised gifting company Emagination Store, to launch a bespoke indulgence gift with renowned multinational confectionery giant, Mondelz International.
As one of the Netherlands’ best recognised and most respected brands, De Bijenkorf is considered to be at the leading edge of retail, with a focus on introducing innovative, game-changing brands to its collections to offer customers a unique, exciting and premium shopping experience.
The Dutch store has seen strong e-commerce growth, claiming their online shop to be the second biggest in their chain of stores at nearly 200 million euros. This online success at presenting the latest trends makes it a fitting platform to launch Garçon Wines’ 2017 Flaca Chilean Merlot and 2018 Chilean Sauvignon Blanc in the Netherlands, with hopes for an in-store launch to follow.
For the UK market, the innovative start-up and inventor of Letterbox Wines® has collaborated with personalised branding specialists, Emagination Store, on a paired wine and chocolate indulgence gifting product, comprising a personalised bottle of Garçon Wines’ Spanish Brisa Tempranillo 2018 paired with a trio of Green & Black’s luxury, ethical chocolate bars from multinational confectionery, food, and beverage giant, Mondelez International.
The collaboration will provide consumers with a thoughtful and convenient solution to sending wine as a gift as Garçon Wines’ signature Letterbox Wine® and Green & Black’s luxury chocolate is deliverable directly through doors across the UK. This product launch marks the first of its type, and a foundation from which the companies will continue to innovate to deliver future indulgent wine and chocolate offerings that inspire and delight consumers.
James Stephenson, Sales Director at Emagination Store, commented “Emagination Store’s partnership with Mondelez, for personalisation across its much-loved brands, has created the perfect opportunity to collaborate with Garçon Wines, the multi award-winning, innovator in ecommerce wine delivery. We are very proud to be at the forefront of innovating new and exciting personalised products, enabled through our unique personalisation software, product innovation, marketplaces and global fulfilment capabilities.”
Revolutionising the sustainability of wine bottles and packaging, multi award-winning Garçon Wines’ bottles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET, offering a benchmark sustainable solution for the eco-conscious consumer. The 87% lighter and 40% more spatially efficient full-size bottle not only saves significant carbon dioxide emissions during transit, but it is also fully and easily recyclable once empty, making it the greenest wine bottle on the planet.
Santiago Navarro, CEO & Co-Founder of Garçon Wines, commented: “The launch of our exciting collaboration with Green & Black’s and Emagination Store also marks the indirect start of our collaboration with global snacks giant Mondelez International. As the owners of nine billion-dollar brands, including Cadbury, Milka and Toblerone, collaborating with Mondelez is a momentous event in our company’s growth. The Mondelez brands are globally successful in many sales channels where our 21st century, eco, flat wine bottles work considerably better than their 19th century, glass, round predecessor, including ecommerce or travel retail, so we look forward to providing them a quality wine solution and to developing our mutually beneficial relationship into the future.”
Santiago Navarro, CEO & Co-Founder of Garçon Wines, continued: “International expansion forms a fundamentally important part of our business plans, and whilst we have advanced commercial discussions stretching across the world of wine from the Americas to Australia, we are highly motivated to finally be selling our wines outside the UK. The Netherlands have shown significant interest in our innovation and De Bijenkorf is a leader amongst retailers in showcasing innovative products, so we feel this is a most fitting springboard from where to launch our international expansion. We are excited to see what a global future holds for us and thank everyone who is showing interest internationally.”
These successes come following a significant number of recent accolades and international recognition for Garçon Wines, including ‘Best Sustainable Packaging’ at the World Food Innovation Awards 2019 and ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the 2019 Onboard Hospitality Awards, as well as the launch of the unparalleled 10 Flat Bottle Case in February 2019, proving that Garçon Wines are truly pioneers of complete sustainable packaging solutions in the wine industry.
Garçon Wines’ 2017 Flaca Chilean Merlot and 2018 Chilean Sauvignon Blanc will be available to purchase on De Bijenkorf’s online store www.debijenkorf.nl from mid-June 2019 at €10 RRP. The Garçon Wines and Green & Black’s gifting package is available now to buy and personalise at £24.99 RRP from ‘The Branded Gift Company’ at www.thebrandedgiftco.com
