Nick will be speaking in Session 6. Wine quality and innovation: where to next? Click here to see more.
Abstract
Winemaking is a very traditional production process, where little adjustment or consideration for consumer preferences is taken into deliberation, other than wine quality, grape variety, and the wine style. Firmenich has undertaken in-depth consumer research, in a number of target countries, to unearth the insights into what drives consumer preference and selection, to help understand how wine can become a more affable and desirable product choice for consumers. The results of the study bring into focus the competition that wine faces in multiple consumption settings, which leads to better understand what wines real opposition is and why and where it falls short in terms of consumer preference. This study has helped identify the strengths of wine and the elements of tradition that need to be retained to ensure its future growth.
The combination of this study and the breakdown of consumer preferences and the competition helps then to identify innovation and areas of opportunity that can be explored with wine to meet the consumers expectations, preferences and needs.
We introduce how Firmenich can support product development in this sector to diversify and address key areas of opportunity in an industry navigating through challenging times, with a brief introduction to some of our conceptual directions and technologies to help take wine into the future.
Biography
Nick has dedicated his career of more than 25 years to the field of alcoholic beverages, commencing with 11 years at Pernod Ricard, SA, within the areas of Quality Control, Yeast and Fermentation Management, Assistant Winemaking and New Product Development and Production Management for Spirits and Ready to Drink solutions. He was then invited to join the flavour industry based in Singapore and China during a period when alcoholic beverage technical solutions and support were deficient. Nick has spent the past 14 years specifically focused on the development and implementation of differentiating technical solutions that support the alcoholic beverage industry globally in a bid to deliver on customer needs and consumer trends.