Analysis 2020 Oct 21 / Comments

Changes in consumption

The news about consumer behaviour during the pandemic has been contradictory, with the media reporting surging online wine sales alongside stories about people giving up drinking altogether. James Lawrence talks to retailers and distributors in Europe, to get their perspectives.

Willi Klinger, Paivi Eklund, Anne J. Thysell, Rita Soares

Willi Klinger
CEO, Wein & Co, Austria

Wein & Co is a leading fine wine retailer in Austria, with 21 wine shops and seven wine bars. The brand was founded in 1993 by Heinz Kammerer and subsequently purchased by the German Hawesko retail group in 2018. I accepted a position as the brand’s CEO in January 2020, after working for the Austrian Wine Marketing Board for 13 years. It has been something of a baptism of fire, selling wine in a global pandemic.

Appeared in

Issue 05-2020