The wine market has undergone some serious upheavals over the last two years: For starters, the COVID-19 pandemic made it very difficult to export wine, as planes were grounded and ocean freight containers couldn’t be loaded and unloaded. Even the wine trade between European countries suffered for a short period of time. Bars and restaurants had to be shut down everywhere, whereby countries that generate a large amount of income from tourism were hit hardest here – and less wine was consumed all around the world as a result. As if all that weren’t enough, the pandemic also led to changes in many consumers’ purchasing habits.
Still, none of this has had any major impact to speak of on logistics systems for imported wine and spirits, according to Yvonne Mayer, Team Leader for Ocean Beverages. Mayer is responsible for wine logistics in ocean freight operations. DB Schenker has actually been providing wine logistics services for years in the retail, restaurant, and catering sectors. The company has an experienced team of ocean freight experts who manage wine and spirits deliveries centrally out of the German city of Koblenz. The city just happens to be surrounded by Germany’s largest wine-making region, which extends along the Ahr, Main, Mosel, and Rhine rivers within a 100-km radius of Koblenz.
Wine from all over the world
“Wine logistics is a year-round business that extends across all climate zones – wine grapes are always being harvested somewhere in the world,” Mayer explains. DB Schenker imports 1,200 TEU containers of wine each year via ocean routes. Customers who import the wine from Australia, New Zealand, America, and South Africa, for example, include wholesalers, retailers, restaurant owners large and small, bottling companies, and wine shops that range from inexpensive corner stores to high-priced specialty shops. Wines from European countries are shipped to customers via land transport systems on the other hand, whereby DB Schenker logistics specialists in Bingen and Saarland are responsible for this end of the business. There have in fact been some changes on the market over the last few months, as Mayer points out. More specifically, retailers are increasingly purchasing regional and local products, and customers are now looking into the background of different wines more than before, which means their purchasing habits have become more selective.
Germany is a wine country
Wine consumption levels have changed very little on the other hand – and Germany remains very much a wine country. Germans consume around 20 million hectoliters of wine each year, which theoretically amounts 29 liters of wine and sparkling wine per year and per capita (people over 16 years of age), according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine. Germany is still far behind Portugal in this regard, however, (per capita consumption of approximately 58.8 liters), as well as France (50.7 liters), but also far ahead of countries like China (only around 1.5 liters per capita).
Despite all the dynamic developments, wine logistics process remain unchanged, regardless of whether they involve standard transports of bottled wine or bulk shipments in special flexi-bag containers that can hold 24,000 liters of wine.
Wine must be handled with great care
Logistics companies need to take special precautions when transporting wine. Wine from New Zealand, for example, passes through six climate zones on its way to Europe. This necessitates careful planning in terms of mitigating the effects of external influences. “We pay special attention to where we store wine in the ships,” says Mayer. “Wine can be damaged by nearby sources of heat, for example, which is why we inform the ocean carriers where we would like to have the wine stored on the ships.” Wine is also usually transported via a direct route in order to avoid waiting times and transshipment at ports.
After wine arrives in Europe, DB Schenker ships it to its final destinations using all available modes of transport. The role played by rail and inland waterway transports here is becoming more and more important. As Mayer points out, that’s because “sustainability in the transport chain is also becoming more and more important. The wine business is a very discreet business that thrives on close relationships with customers. In other words, security, safety, trust, and experience are very important in the wine logistics sector.”
Personal relationships count for a lot
Mayer has helped established such trust and close personal relationships with many DB Schenker customers over a period of many years. Back in 2012, the “second” DB Schenker team, which was located in Hamburg, was merged with Mayer’s team in Koblenz. Mayer herself has been Head of the Ocean Beverages unit since 2015. In this capacity, she enjoys embarking upon journeys throughout the world of wine – at least virtually: “We go once around the world: We start in Australia in the morning and finish up in the evening in North America.”