Exclusive: Chapel Down eyes expansion and new winery after online sales boost
England’s largest winemaker, Chapel Down, plans another vineyard and build a new winery to expand its production after seeing online sales boost during the pandemic period.
In July, Chapel Down completed a £6.8m fundraising round via equity crowdfunding site Seedr to help continue its growth.
In an interview with City PM, Chapel Down’s chief executive, Frazer Thompson, said the company plans to plant 150 more acres of its existing vineyards next spring and create a new winery, which is expected to be ready in winter 2023.
“As we have planted over the last three to four years and more of those grapes come on stream, I need to be able to process them. In other words, I need to build a new winery that is capable of handling more fruit,” he said.
“So a large part of the funds will go towards building the new winery, which will improve our profitability and will enable us to use the latest technology to improve the quality of our fruit.”
“The bigger the winery, the more grapes it is taking in, the more exclusive that you can make those blends of grapes and better the wine gets.”
Surging online sales
Chapel Down has almost 800 acres of vineyards across Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Essex, producing its signature sparkling wines, as well as still wines, gins and vodka.
The firm recorded a growth of 38 per cent in overall wine sales last year despite the closure of hospitality venues due to lockdown, thanks to a surge in direct to customer sales that jumped a whopping 467 per cent.
“We saw an exponential rise in the online sales. It went from being under 4 per cent of our business to 20 per cent currently,” said Thompson.
The continuous growth in the e-commerce channel has pushed Chapel Down to enhance the customer experience online.
“We want people to engage with us, so we need to get all the social media stuff right. We need to make ourselves available to answer questions by doing online tastings, online tours, meeting winemakers and the team,” said Thompson.
Genesis of English wine
With the hospitality sector back in business this summer, Chapel Down starts to see a rapid emergence of wine sales in this channel.
“Normally, 25 per cent of the population are aboard at this time of the year, but they are at home this year. Instead of drinking in Spanish bars, they are drinking in London bars and local pubs,” said Thompson.
The firm will also promote its wine tourism, expecting 80,000 visitors to its vineyard in Kent next year.
Thompson, who has led the English winemaker for the past 20 years, will step down from his position in September and remain as an advisor at Chapel Down.
Andrew Carter, currently managing director at Chase Distillery, a vodka and gin producer set up by the owner of Tyrrells crisps, will succeed Thompson in mid-September.
Thompson described supplying English sparkling wines for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011 as the proudest moment in his career at Chapel Down. He believes there will be a bright future for the English wine industry.
“I think people have tried English wine for the first time during the pandemic, and they have got a habit. So they are going to treat more and more, which is great. I think I have seen the start of the genesis of the English wine industry.”