COMPANY UPDATE
Dawine sells 17,000 bottles in B2B transaction
ASX Announcement 21 November 2018
- First sale in B2B focus results in 17,000 bottle sale
- Name change to coincide with business change
Dawine Limited ("Dawine" or "the Company") is pleased to advise that the newly initiated Businessto-Business arm first sale for 17,000 bottles has occurred, signalling an effort to increase the Company's exposure to China's $1.1 billion per annum appetite for Australian wine.
Piers Lewis, Chairman of Dawine commented: “Up until now, we’ve been trying to build our own consumer database through a variety of online sales channels. While we’ve made some progress, customer acquisition costs are extremely high unless you are selling very well known brands such as Penfolds or Jacobs Creek.”
“Rather than compete directly for customers, we’ve recognised that it is more efficient to partner with existing Chinese retailers and sales channels, providing them a platform to access Australian wine brands.”
“Our aim is to provide a one-stop-shop for Australian wine producers of all scales to access the lucrative but difficult to navigate Chinese market. We’ll manage the entire process for them, from when the wine leaves the cellar door to when it’s delivered to a home in China.”
New Market, New Strategy
The B2B focus also aligns with the company’s proposed acquisition of Wine Depot, an integrated B2B trading and logistics platform that allows retailers to drop ship orders directly to their customers from inventory held in strategically placed location.
Mr Lewis commented: "We have had a presence in Shanghai for almost three years now. It’s a logical starting point to establish a depot to service the China market. Similar to Wine Depot’s plans for Australia, we would look to expand the network into other major Chinese cities as the demand grows.”
“With the likes of Alibaba investing over $400 million into wine importer and retailer 1919.com, it shows just how much potential there is if you get the operating model right.”
Along with the change in distribution strategy, the Dawine Board has decided to rebrand the company's name to Digital Wine Ventures Limited, as announced in the Notice of Annual General Meeting dated 30 October 2018.
Mr Lewis commented: “Dawine was the name we chose as our consumer facing brand in China. As we enter the B2B model and diversify via strategic acquisitions it has less relevance, particularly here in Australia.”
“For some time the board has wanted a name that better reflects the true ethos and direction of the company. Digital Wine Ventures was chosen as it aligns with our current ASX code (ASX: DW8) and seems an appropriate fit.
“It also helps us to set a new mandate for the incoming CEO, Dean Taylor, whose extensive experience in technology driven and disruptive wine businesses is second to none. We’ve done our best to prepare the company ahead of his arrival so he can hit the ground running. It really is an exciting time for the Company.”
DAWINE TO ACQUIRE SMART LOGISTICS SOLUTION AND APPOINT DEAN TAYLOR AS CEO
ASX Announcement 21 August 2018
- Binding agreement entered into for 100% acquisition of Wine Depot
- Appointment of Mr Dean Taylor as CEO, founder of Cracka Wines, Wine Ark and My Wine Guy
- $1 million capital raising
Dawine Ltd ("Dawine" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued capital of Wine Depot Holdings Pty Ltd (Wine Depot), a business-to-business electronic marketplace for the wine industry (Acquisition). As part of the Acquisition, Dawine is excited to confirm that Mr Dean Taylor, founder and owner of Wine Depot, is to be appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director.
In conjunction, the Company is proposing to undertake a capital raising of $1,060,000 (before costs).
Wine Depot
Wine Depot is a Sydney based company that plans to launch an integrated trading and
logistics platform later this year that will allow sellers to source inventory from multiple
suppliers and deliver their products directly to the consumer. Leveraging a network of existing
distributors warehouses and new ‘depots’ the technology platform aims to provide end-to-end
distribution faster and cheaper than traditional delivery methods, with more choice and the ability
to buy by the bottle.
The existing wine supply chain is failing to meet modern consumers expectations. In Australia and
New Zealand, there are over 5,000 individual small to medium sized premium wine brands that rely on
traditional supply chains. Further, existing sales channels in markets including China are
fragmented and inefficient. Wine Depot is ideally placed to disrupt, digitally transform and
consolidate in these areas and compliments the existing Dawine platforms.
The Problem
The existing wine supply chain is inefficient, fragmented and failing to meet modern consumers
expectations. Extremely erosive on both Suppliers and Sellers margins, it is ripe for disruption,
digital transformation and consolidation.
Existing wine supply chains are dominated by distributors who typically charge high warehousing
costs which puts pressure on both supplier and seller margins. These supply chains
support a narrow portfolio of products and have limited capability with respect to
national coverage, direct-to-consumer drop shipments, as well as international shipment handling & administration.
The Solution
The Wine Depot's integrated trading and logistics platform will benefit suppliers,
distributors and sellers by providing smart logistics and brand building service that will
ultimately:
• reduce the margin, cost & time lost in the existing supply chain
• increase sales & promotion opportunities
• simplify administration, inventory & account management
Piers Lewis, Executive Chairman:
"We are really excited to work with Dean and acquire Wine Depot, which will provide an integrated
trading and logistics platform that the wine industry sorely needs. Dean's experience is
impressive and his track record is as good as it gets in the wine industry. Dean's passion for
improving the wine industry and belief that Asia is a key market mirrors that of Dawine's. The
acquisition of the Wine Depot compliments Dawine's existing sales channels
and will look to streamline many facets of our business."
About Dean Taylor
Mr Taylor is a digital pioneer and start-up veteran with seven successful wine ventures under his belt including Cracka Wines, Wine Ark and My Wine Guy. Mr Taylor stated he is excited about joining Dawine and the opportunity to drive a project that has the potential to release so much value and efficiency within the existing wine supply chain.
“Over the last 10 years there has been an enormous shift in the way that consumers buy wine. The online and direct-to-consumer segment is the fastest growing part of the market. Unfortunately the wine supply chain hasn’t kept up with the changing landscape and is still as inefficient, fragmented and lacking in technology as it was 10 years ago.
The challenge now is that modern consumers are demanding a broader range of wines, delivered quicker, cheaper and at a time of their choosing. In marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba consumers already expect free same day delivery. Wine is a heavy and fragile product that is expensive to ship. The only way that the industry can meet consumer expectations is by leveraging technology to generate the efficiencies and service level now required.
Our aim is to help digitally transform the wine supply chain with a ‘smart logistics’ platform that allows sellers to access inventory from thousands of suppliers and drop ship orders directly to consumers from strategically placed ‘depots’. Totally agnostic, our ‘depots’ will allow liquor retailers to focus on acquiring, retaining and servicing customers – leveraging our technology to take care of inventory management, fulfillment, customer communications and service.
With 50% annual growth last year taking it to $1 billion in trade for Australian wineries, China is a logical starting point for the global roll out of our ‘smart logistics’ solution. It’s an emerging market with no legacy wine distribution infrastructure, dominated by just a handful of well-known wine brands. Providing a platform that allows thousands of other Australian and New Zealand wine brands to access and develop a presence in that market is exciting.
At the same time we believe that there’s immense potential for our platform within the existing
Australian liquor distribution market, estimated to be worth over $5 billion. It allows
key stakeholders to reduce delivery costs and fulfillment times while releasing working capital
that is typically tied up in inventory holdings.”
To support his vision, Mr Taylor also sees the potential for Dawine to make strategic investments
in direct-to-consumer and on-premise sales channels, one of the fastest growing segments of the
wine market:
“Our objective is to provide a ‘smart logistics’ platform that allows wine suppliers to expand
their reach internationally and domestically. If we identify a particular market or sales channel
that is outperforming others then it makes sense for us to provide it with capital to drive further
growth. Investments into domestic supply and sales channels that we can then utilise in other
markets such as China would make a lot of sense. Moving zeros and ones is much simpler and cheaper
than cases of wine - and it’s time the industry harnessed the full potential of technology to
eliminate all the double, triple and sometimes quadruple handling that goes on behind the
scenes to get a single order delivered.”
ABOUT DAWINE
DAWINE officialy launched in China June 2017 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. DAWINE thanks the National Indoor Stadium, Yang Lin Ping president of National Stadium, Yang Bo Ran from Austrade and Tina Tien for the amazing event and location and looks forward to future collaboration with the National Indoor Stadium.
Video from the even was broadcast in China on various networks and a sample can be seen from Le TV.
The DAWINE event was also covered by numerous media agencies in China such as SoHu.com.
DAWINE offers wine experience, focused on bringing quality, genuine wines from around the world to you.
DAWINE was founded on the core principles that a good bottle of wine must be of “Quality, authenticity and affordability”. These are the values we look for when choosing a bottle of wine for ourselves and for our loved ones.
We want to see you enjoy the same quality and value for money; hence, we have carefully selected the wines presented on DAWINE through our long standing and personal relationships with wine makers from some of the world's best wine regions (including France, Australia, Italy, Chile, New Zealand, Argentina).
Due to the relationship we have with the winemakers, these deals presented on DAWINE are often to the Chinese market and only available in limited lot quantities.
At DAWINE, we are passionate about sharing the stories that each of these winemakers and the wines have to tell. Wine and winemaking is complex and intriguing with the people behind the wines having a direct influence on every glass that you drink.
Each wine has a story; we would love for you to be part of it.
With our passion, experience and commitment DAWINE brings you, the wine lovers, beautiful wines to enjoy, share and celebrate, with everyone you love and in every moment you cherish.
Yours sincerely,
Piers Lewis and Norman Lip
Founders
