Why JF Hillebrand is good to the last drop

Founded in Germany in 1844, servicing freight barges along the Rhine, today JF Hillebrand has a presence in every major beer, wine and spirits market – both production and consumption – around the globe. With its headquarters in Mainz, Germany, the business has more than 58 offices around the world with a workforce of more than 2,500. Locally, JF Hillebrand has offices in Sydney, Adelaide and Auckland.

Australia and New Zealand are known around the world more for their wines than beers or spirits, with 80 percent of JF Hillebrand's local business focused on exports and only 20 percent on imports.

JF Hillebrand deals with more than 500 customers throughout Australia and New Zealand, amongst which large clients industry stalwarts such as Treasury Wine Estates (responsible for Penfolds and Wolf Blass amongst other brands), Accolade Wines (Hardys), Pernod Ricard Winemakers (Jacobs Creek), and Casella Wines (Yellowtail). While these customers each ship several thousand containers each quarter, JF Hillebrand also caters to smaller businesses producers who may ship as little as a single case of wine each year.

The United Kingdom is Australia’s largest export destination by volume accounting for 32 percent of all litres exported. Interestingly while China only represents 12 percent of litres exported it has just become their number one market by value and continues to grow. The UK market is heavily influenced by the major supermarket chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, and Waitrose with more than three quarters of this wine shipped in bulk and then bottled in the UK. Bulk wine travels across the globe by sea in 24,000-litre flexitanks fitted inside standard 20 foot shipping containers. 

The rest of this article is in Business Review Australia's December. 

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