VINTAGE - Altia · Building the Google of wines The future is trending What makes good karma?...

2012

ALTIA

MAGAZINE

#1

VI NTAG E

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VI NTAG E

THE LEADER

ApéRITIfs

ARoMAs

sTRATEGy

A question of trust A handful of aces

Bioenergy boost

In good company

Gaining momentum

The alchemy of aroma

RENDEZVoUs

Building the Google of wines

The future is trending

What makes good karma?

RENDEZVoUs

Consumers under the lens

CoLUMN

3 recipes for a great evening

3 different markets

EDIToR-IN-CHIEf

MANAGING EDIToR

CoNCEpT AND pRoDUCTIoN

pRojECT MANAGEMENT

DEsIGN DIRECToR

WRITERs

pHoToGRApHERs

CoVER pHoTo

AssIsTANT DEsIGNERs

pRINTED By

Anu salmi-savilampi

Milja fromholtz

Miltton oy

Leena Löytömäki, Antti salomaa, Varpu Varpela

sampsa Voutilainen

Marita Eklund, Ian fenton, Milja fromholtz, Eva Lamppu, Laura Ruokola, Varpu Varpela

sabine Büttner, Geir Haukursson, Tomi parkkonen, Riitta supperi, Erik Thor

Christina Hernandez

Roope Kiviranta, Tiina Ilmavirta

Lönnberg, Helsinki 2013

Vintage #1

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ALTIA MAGAZINE

#1

Contact information: Altia oyj, pL 350, 00101 Helsinki. street address: porkkalankatu 22 A, 00101 Helsinki.

switchboard: +358 207 013 013. altiacorporation.com

Introducing Vintage

short and sweet highlights

Naturally selective

The sweet music of good business

forging a successful long-term partnership

The tricks of the logistics trade

Making production more self-reliant

Gripping employees’ hearts and minds

The changing face of travel retail

The rites and rituals of cognac blending

Altia’s cognac team

offering online wine-pairing advice

forecasting the drink industry’s hottest trends

A seinäjoki nightclub goes “Bottoms Up”

Movers and shakers

Tracking the end consumer’s secret wishes

Mathias stenius redefines taste

What makes a successful soirée?

Distinct drinking cultures of the Nordics and Baltics

4

F or as long as anyone can remember, people have gathered round the

campfire to listen, learn from each other, and share their tales. Life is made up of these stories.

We at Altia felt that a story-telling approach would perhaps excite our readers more than an ordinary annual report. But do we have interesting stories to tell? I assure you there are plenty.

Our partners, customers, consumers and employees have so much to share about Altia, and most of all, about the great brands we market and sell. So allow me to present the first issue of ‘Altia Vintage’:

“Do we have interesting stories

to tell? I assure you there are plenty.”

I hope it gives you a good insight into our world and the people who keep it in motion.

A ltia’s story itself is developing all the time, and our direction is clear.

With great enthusiasm and devotion our people are working to develop Altia into an esteemed house of brands. We want to be seen as the most attractive partner in our region: constantly listening, constantly learning, and together with our customers, continuing to make success stories like those you are about to read.

Antti Pankakoski, CEO, Altia.

the leader4

a world of stories

PHOTO r i itta supperi

5apéritifs

DrostDy-Hof’s pepper steak witH tzatziki anD glazeD vegetables

(For 4 persons) 400 g minced meat: lamb, pork, or beef 1 egg 1.5 teaspoons salt A pinch of white pepper 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard Oil or butter for frying 4 sweet peppers of various colours 1 zucchini 1 red onion Oil or butter for frying Salt and pepper

Tzatziki

Mix the steak ingredients and let the meat

mixture rest for a while. Coarsely chop the onion

and vegetables. fry onion and peppers until

they get a little colour. Lower the heat and cook

until peppers are cooked but still firm. set aside.

fry the zucchini on a high heat for less than a

minute. Add peppers, mix, and season with salt

and pepper. Make four hamburger patties from

the meat mixture. fry them in oil and butter

until done. Heat up the vegetable side dish and

serve together with patties and tzatziki.

The innovative bellywrap helps customers to match their evening meal with a suitable wine.

I t is widely known that carton packaging

provides excellent protection for wine and

is convenient for consumers. But does it have

other possibilities? Could a wine box even

become a source of inspiration for your daily

life? Altia took a fresh look at the wine boxes of

the renowned brand Drostdy-Hof, and came

up with a new design innovation.

“Drostdy-Hof is a special

brand; it is present in all Altia

markets, and in sweden it

has been on the market for as

long as 15 years. We wanted

to revitalise and refresh its

brand visually but unfortu-

nately it can take up to a year

to develop a new design for

wine boxes. We needed some-

thing faster,” explains Altia’s

Marketing Director Nina Fajerson.

Bearing this challenge

in mind, fajerson and her

team came up with an innovation called “the

bellywrap”. It is a carton add-on that is placed

on top of the box, creating a new fresh look

for the bag-in-box. The real beauty of the

innovation lies in its content: every bellywrap

displays a delicious recipe, offering inspiration

and concrete tips for busy consumers to find

new ways of combining food and wine.

“We know that people in the Nordic

countries want to know more about wines and

wine and food pairing in particular. Drostdy-

Hof’s brand position is to be

the perfect wine for indulgence;

it’s the right product to have at

home for every occasion: from a

glass enjoyed on your own to a

dinner party with good friends.

These simple, delicious

recipes that match Drost-

dy-Hof’s box wines so perfectly

have been put together by

Mats Abrahamsson and Mats Claësson, both of whom work

at Altia. The campaign started

in mid-December 2012 and

the brand is now claiming a

significant market share in the

segment. The feedback from Drostdy-Hof’s

brand owner has been most enthusiastic.

“This is the most innovative idea which has

been launched within the monopoly for a long

time. We expect other brands to copy, and

imitation is the most sincere form of flattery”,

Distell’s European Managing Director, Gary Greenfield says.

“A similar technique was once used by

Bibendum in Norway, and we thought ‘let’s

leverage this great idea’. The best part is that

the swedish monopoly allowed us to put this

into action, and that we can share our best

practices between countries according to the

local legal standards. I don’t see any problem

if some other brand would like to use belly-

wraps as well. Let the future decide,” fajerson

declares.

Packaging inspiration

TExTs eva lamppu, laura ruoKola, varpu varpela PHOTOs altia

Short and sweet highlights from Altia’s 2012.

Drostdy-Hof’s Shiraz Merlot Cape Red pairs beautifully with steaks, wild game, and thick stews.

6

A pinch of Lurton expertiseIndustry authority Jacques Lurton shares his knowledge and experience with Altia.

I n order to preserve the quality of

wine from its origin all the way to the

consumer, altia’s wine-handling mechanism

is constantly reassessed and developed in

cooperation with world-renowned expert

Jacques Lurton. his wine houses are widely

acknowledged for their exquisite sauvignon

Blancs. the famous wine-maker also shares

his knowledge as a consultant for altia.

“i joined up with altia four years ago, to

bring my expertise to their company for the

sourcing of bulk quality wines and the treat-

ment process of these wines – from loading

the container to the final, bottled product,”

lurton explains.

the maestro knows what he is doing: he

has travelled the world and made wines in

many different countries. “throughout our

time together, i have found altia staff to be

extremely diligent people: rigorous, talented

and passionate in their work – sometimes

more so than the producers themselves.”

Did you know? • Jacques Lurton belongs to the renowned Lurton dynasty. In total 15 family members work in the wine business.• Jacques and his brother François are known as the “flying winemakers from Lurton”: they broke away from Bordeaux to conquer every corner of the wine world.• Lurton family wines are produced in several countries including France, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Uruguay, Spain and Australia.

apéritifs6

7

Distell’s Regional Business Manager

Berenice Barker was one of the participants.

Her areas of responsibility within Distell are

the Nordic and Baltic regions.

Barker finds taking part in the seminar

useful: “It’s a good time to connect with

other producers within Altia’s supply chain.

you gain market-specific insights, and can

compare shared problems or issues between

partners. The talks and discussions were

varied and interesting”.

Altia’s CEo Antti Pankakoski opened the

seminar. The program included presentations

on current hot topics in the finnish market’s

on- and off-trade sectors. The assembled

partners also enjoyed a presentation by

the Boston Consulting Group and another

themed around World Design Capital 2012.

Industrial designer stefan Lindfors gave an

animated account of his interesting ideas

before dinner was served.

Berenice Barker thinks the seminar gave

her several tools to deploy in her own work:

“There is a better understanding amongst

partners in terms of design for labels and

brand applications within the finnish market

after this seminar – and just a sense of being

more aware. I would certainly participate in

the Altia partner seminar again.”

apéritifs

altia preserves the arsenitch legend

I n september 2012, Altia welcomed another

newcomer into its white spirits portfolio

when it acquired vodka brands such as

Arsenitch, Kurland and Delo Nr. 5, which now

reinforce its market position in Latvia.

The renowned Arsenitch has its roots in

the 1860s, and has been repeatedly awarded

internationally for its superior quality.

“We are proud to cherish this heritage

brand,” says Altia CEo Antti Pankakoski.Arsenitch vodka is named after the man

whose portrait adorns its label. Arsenitch, who

lived in 19th century Russia, was called the

“King of Russian Vodka” during his lifetime.

He started as a simple bottle washer in his

uncle’s wine shop, but in the course of his life

managed to create a whole empire of quality

vodka recognized all over the world. Today his

legacy still flourishes in the brand that bears

his name.

Arsenitch: a king amongst vodkas.

Participants in Altia’s second Partner Seminar gave extremely good feedback.

W hat makes Nordic and finnish

consumers tick? What do they

want and what inspires them? These were

a few of the questions that were answered

in the second Altia partner seminar, held in

september 2012 in Helsinki, finland.

“We got extremely good feedback from the

partners”, says Janne Halttunen, one of the

seminar’s organisers.

The idea of Altia’s annual partner seminars

is simple: to gather the company’s partners

together for a face-to-face meetings and share

knowledge and insights. In 2012, the theme

of the seminar was ‘finland and design’, as

Helsinki was nominated to be the year’s World

Design Capital.

A good time to connect

this article is about altia’s offering in

spirits. in accordance with finnish law, we are unable to publish

it online.



it online.

8 apéritifs

an international delegation visits koskenkorva

U nited states ambassador to finland

Bruce Oreck and his wife Cody Oreck

visited Altia’s factory in Koskenkorva in August

2012. Members of the embassy staff also

attended this prestigious event.

Altia’s Antti snellman and Arttu Kivi showed the guests how the factory operates

and answered numerous questions.

After the visit, Mrs oreck wrote in her blog:

“The Koskenkorva factory turned out to be the

fascinatingly high-tech distillery that produces

the pure ethanol (from 100% finnish barley)

that is the base for its various products.”

Energy issues and material efficiency at the

Koskenkorva factory were also of great interest

to the visitors. Mrs oreck was particularly

impressed: “our young hosts, Antti and Arttu,

are looking for maximum efficiencies that

could soon make drinking these essences

quite environmentally friendly!”

T he Codorníu brand had a high-flying year

in 2012: Codorníu Clasico,

the group’s flagship product, became the

best-selling cava in sweden. It is

still made using the same method

as the very first bottle of cava

produced by Codorníu in the 19th

century, when the drink was the

preferred tipple of spanish royals.

The roots of the Codorníu

family business go deep: historical

documents show that the family

were producing wine as far back as

the 16th century. In 1895, the direc-

tion of the business changed

and Codorníu began to focus

wholly upon the production of cava. Today, the

brand is recognised as one of spain’s most

famed sparkling wine producers – and Clasico

still boasts the same coupage used in the very

first bottles of Codorníu.

Even iconic roots need revitalizing every

now and then, though. This is why Grupo

Codorníu made a major design change at the

end of December. The objective was to better

communicate the Codorníu brand essence:

quality, provenance and heritage. As a

result, Codorníu Clasico, amongst other

products, was given a new, fresh look. Its

new stylish black logo delivers a stronger

message to consumers.

Altia represents Codorníu across

its entire operating area; in addition

to sweden, the classic brand is also

sold in finland, Norway, Denmark,

Estonia and Latvia. “It’s important

now to keep existing consumers and

hopefully find new cava drinkers with

the upgraded look and feel of the

bottles. The packaging is as good as

its contents,” senior Brand Manager

Annica Bondelid tells us.

A new look for Codorníu

I n 2012, Altia began a pilot project with

Alko auditing a Chilean wine supplier

and its subcontractors. The project

is connected to the Code of Conduct

adopted by the Nordic alcohol monop-

olies since joining the Business social

Compliance Initiative (BsCI). The code

is concerned with human rights, working

conditions, environmental issues and

anti-corruption, and the aim of the project

is to ensure that the entire supply chain is

committed to the principles it outlines.

“Customers and other interest groups

have growing expectations and demands

for the ethics and responsibility of

alcoholic beverages’ entire supply chain.

The aim of responsible purchasing is

to ensure that the working conditions

throughout – including pay, working

hours, occupational safety, and the right

to negotiate – are all in order,” says Alko’s

Director of Corporate Relations, Maritta Iso-Aho.

In Chile, the results of the audit at

Altia’s producer and their four subcon-

tractor farms were fairly strong. The local

people were very positive and construc-

tive, although the auditors’ arrival did

cause some initial confusion.

“Matters related to employment

contracts, pay, and working hours were

all in order. The main targets for devel-

opment had to do with a lack of written

documents and partial neglect of occupa-

tional safety instructions,” Iso-Aho says.

The suppliers were given a corrective

action plan, and they will be re-audited

in 2013.

altia and alko audit in Chile

The ambassadorial couple enjoy their visit to Koskenkorva.

Altia’s Catalonian partner brand receives a new, refined bottle design.

9apéritifs

ruffino Chianti returns to its roots

T he newly-styled fiasco bottle for Ruffino’s

iconic Chianti superiore DoCG marks

a return to its original, classic form. The new

shape is inspired by the round water bags

cavalrymen would hang from their saddles in

the Middle Ages. The string around the bottle is

curled by hand, and is made of recycled paper.

T he Kurkisuo bog near Hyvinkää in

southern finland has been granted

partial environmental protection. The decision

came after Altia, which owns part of Kurkisuo,

applied for conservation to secure ground-

water supply for production at its Rajamäki

plant.

This achievement, initially motivated by

sound business logic, has proven to be of

significant benefit to the environment, and

resulted in Altia being nominated as a candi-

date for the Best finnish Nature Act Award.

“It was the most valuable environmental

act which took place in finland in 2012,” says Yrjö Ala-Paavola at Hyvinkää Association for

Nature Conservation.

“Kurkisuo, rich in species and hosting

unique biotopes, is a rarity in the Uusimaa

region, and the bog is among the ten most

important natural bogs in the whole country.

Now the common cranes can nest safely, elks

can wander around the bog, and rare butterfly

species may thrive,” says Ala-paavola.

These conservation efforts have halted

plans to use the bog for peat extraction, which

threatened the wetlands.

Altia uses pure groundwater to produce

alcoholic drinks. Its Rajamäki plant uses

water from a source close to the protected

Kurkisuo area.

pure groundwater secured

Kurkisuo is among the ten most important natural bogs in Finland.



it online.



it online.

10 apéritifs

Blossa on the road Is it a bike? No! Is it a stall? No! It’s a Blossa tasting moped.

J ust before Christmas, an unusual sight

had passers-by on the streets of stockholm

doing a double take. The tasting tour campaign,

which saw unique Blossa mopeds popping up

in unexpected places, was a hit.

“More than 21,000 people were served a

cup of Blossa during this campaign. We got a

very positive consumer response: people were

really surprised and happy when the mopeds

turned up,” Brand Manager Maria snitting Mårtensson says.

As a result, Blossa sales hit record heights

during the Christmas season. Blossa’s market

share in the mulled wine segment at swedish

monopoly systembolaget increased from 72%

to an impressive 75%.

The distinctive Blossa tasting moped in action.



it online.

11

o rganic wines continue to occupy a significant part of today’s wine market, and according to the

latest figures, the trend might be said to have both matured and stabilised. Sales of organic wines amongst Altia’s offering show a continual increase in Finland and Norway and a slightly reduced rate of growth in Sweden. So where is the organic movement headed next?

The world of fine dining, where organic produce is increasingly significant, may hold the answers. Linda Stenman-Langhoff, sommelier at Restaurant Ask in Helsinki, emphasises their use of high quality, locally grown organic produce: “To us, it isn’t

a question of marketing ourselves as an organic restaurant. This just follows natu-rally from our own way of life.”

The word organic no longer tells the whole story, however. Sommeliers are increasingly interested in so-called natural wines, a term which does not carry exactly the same meaning.

“Organic wine is made from organically grown grapes, but these can still have been through some chemical process during the winemaking,” Stenman-Langhoff explains. Natural wines have been made with as little chemical and technological intervention as possible, in pursuit of absolute purity and reliance entirely on the ingredients provided by nature.

“It’s a little like going back to our roots. Adding artificial ingredients is something

we try to avoid as much as possible, both for health and lifestyle reasons as well as for the sake of the environment.”

The average consumer is also increas-ingly conscious of ways to be more eco-friendly, and packaging plays a key role. Particularly environmentally-conscious purchasers might favour the “bag-in-box” form of packaging, which minimizes both material usage and carbon footprint.

Altia helps to enable such savings in emissions and energy usage by importing large quantities of wine, which are then individually packaged closer to home. So, whether indulging the senses or simply doing some careful shopping, eco-friendly options still abound.

Restaurant Ask: restaurantask.com

AROMAs 11

naturallyselective

TExT ian fenton

PHOTO shutterstocK

Industry insights direct from the marketplace.

High-end gastronomy may be sign-posting the future of organic wine production.

12 strateGy

a symphonic strateGy

T hanks to innovative product devel-opment, stringent quality stand-ards, and a number of key acqui-

sitions, Altia has grown from its humble beginnings in 1888 to become the largest company in its market area of the Nordic and Baltic countries.

2013 will be Antti Pankakoski’s sixth year as CEO of Altia, and he’s in a good position to look back on his successes with the company so far. “Together with our customers and partners, we’ve been able to improve our performance significantly since I joined in 2007,” he reflects.

“Expanding the business and strength-ening our market position have been the priorities, especially outside Finland. Which brings us to the situation today in which our drinks’ net sales in Sweden even exceed that of Finland. This illustrates the kind of journey we’ve taken over the last couple of years,” Pankakoski says.

Altia’s current status as the market’s largest supplier in terms of logistics and production volumes provides a competi-tive advantage both financially and opera-tionally. Pankakoski does concede, though, that 2012’s figures don’t show the progress he would like: “Sales-wise, this year was something of a sideways step for us, but we’re currently deciding on measures to streamline the business and improve conversion of customer insights into sales.”

The latter is a key competence for Altia, where the business is founded upon a constantly developing knowledge of both trade customers and the end consumer.

When these lessons are aligned with product development and production capabilities, the results are drinks that perfectly anticipate upcoming trends.

As an example of just such a success, Pankakoski points to the Latitude 55° whisky, launched in Sweden a couple of years ago. “It’s now one of the top-selling whisky brands in the Swedish market, which is typically seen as an area of deep expertise when it comes to whiskies. In that case, we started completely from scratch and were able to build a real success story with the local monopoly to promote and push the brand.”

passion for brandsBrands are evidently of enormous impor-tance to this organisation. Pankakoski sees Altia’s position as a good home for brands as both the centre of its heritage and the basis for future success. The company’s range represents iconic spirits with a presence in the Nordic market for decades, as well as a number of first class global brands.

“The size and perceived quality of our portfolio are a kind of business funda-mental here,” he explains. “This is a source of strength for us: it gives good coverage and makes it easier to open doors. Brands want to be with other brands of a similar stature, so if you have a strong portfolio which is attractive to customers, you will naturally find yourself in a position to enhance it further.”

But it’s a competitive area, and Altia strives to use local market insights to

Altia CEO Antti Pankakoski shares his views on the company’s proud achievements and future aims.

guarantee its brands’ success: “We’re able to use consumer knowledge and awareness of trends to our shared benefit. This means being active and giving partners plenty of new ideas and new opportunities.”

thinking aheadA strategic desire to cover the most impor-tant market areas also, of course, plays a huge role in portfolio management. Pankakoski is particularly proud of Altia’s strength in the cognac segment, where the drink’s recent popularity outside the Nordic region (where it has traditionally enjoyed healthy sales) has been to the company’s advantage.

“We’ve also been strengthening our position in certain key wine-producing areas, namely Argentina, the US, and South Africa,” he continues. “Spain has been in focus as well, as has Australia, but given the kind of wide portfolio that we have, things are happening more or less every day.”

Pankakoski assures us that the portfo-lio’s expansion will continue without any signs of slowing. While they currently place strong emphasis on the Nordic and Baltic countries, these represent only a fraction of the locations Altia would like to cater for in the future.

thirst for growthThe business activities are grouped into three business processes: own brands, which develops and markets Altia’s own wines and spirits; the partner business, which markets and sells the partners’

13strateGy

NET sALEs BY BusINEss

sEGMENT

NET sALEs BY COuNTRYHELsINKI

RIGA

TABAsALu

svENDBORG

OsLO

COPENHAGEN

sTOCKHOLM

RAJAMäKI

KOsKENKORvA

brands; and industrial services, in charge of packaging, bottling and other side products of ethanol production. When he speaks to the heads of these divisions, Pankakoski demands only one thing. “Growth, growth, and growth,” he grins. “For me, growth is perhaps the final proof of an organisation’s capabilities. And I believe that we have all the necessary ingredients to succeed in this.”

Key to this achievement, in Panka-koski’s view, will be ensuring that the right talents occupy the correct positions and are given the necessary freedom to perform well: “To do well in our business today you need the combination of aware-ness and the ability to execute based on that awareness. You need to understand what you should be doing and then you need to tailor your operations to respond to that knowledge.”

Possessed with enthusiasm for the success of a well-run business, it’s easy to see that this is a man who’s seen the process in motion before: “When every-body works in that way, it’s like music. A little bit of conducting here and there, perhaps. And after a couple of years, everything flows almost automatically. In a good orchestra everybody knows what to do, and their own considerable skills and personal ambitions are all just part of a satisfying performance.”

Altia’s market area comprises the Nordic and Baltic countries. All of the company’s activities rest on insights derived from these regions.

2012 2011 2010

net sales, eur million 483.3 519.0 480.8

operating profit, eur million 29.4 35.0 32.6

(% of net sales) 6.1 6.7 6.8

profit before taxes, eur million 24.8 31.1 29.6

(% of net sales) 5.1 6.0 6.2

profit for the period, eur million 20.8 21.3 25.7

(% of net sales) 4.3 4.1 5.3

statement of financial position, eur million 590.3 586.8 581.1

return on equity, % 10.6 11.6 17.2

return on invested capital, % 7.6 8.4 10.0

equity ratio, % 35.4 32.5 29.6

Gearing, % 62.9 51.8 76.3

capital expenditure, eur million 27.6 6.1 106.4

average number of personnel 1,108 1,178 1,122

KEY RATIOs FOR ALTIA GROuP

TExT ian fenton

GRAPHICs miltton

Brands 42.7% (40.3%)

Trading 27.5% (27.8%)

Industrial services 29.8% (31.9%)

Finland 44.8% (44.5%)

sweden 33.4% (32.3%)

Norway 8.2% (10.6%)

Denmark 9.1% (8.7%)

Baltics 4.6% (3.9%)



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ALTIA V I NTA g e 2 0 1 2 14



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ALTIA V i nta g e 2 0 1 2 15



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Ultimate one-stop-sHop

Perhaps Altia’s most unique strength is the fact that our operations cover the entire value chain, and this is a core activity for us. From sourcing of raw materials to transporta-tion, bottling, packaging, sales and delivery, we’re in familiar territory across the board.

We know what customers and consumers in our region expect and we have the exper-tise and facilities to produce and supply products whenever and wherever they are needed.

Altia is known for its quality B2B services, which cover the entire alcohol beverage business value chain. These four tricks guarantee

a unique partner experience.

CUstomers Close by

By having our operations close to customers, we are able to ensure that products are always available fresh and in the formats customers want them, and without excess inventory even during peak seasons – a challenge for more distant competitors.

CUstomer satisfaCtion

Altia is the single largest supplier of alcoholic beverages in the Swedish and Finnish markets. Our strong relation-ship with customers is a key benefit over the competition. We are in constant, on-going discussion with our monopoly and retail partners, often piloting new initiatives and sharing successes amongst our partner brands. Together with our customers, we shape the market.

effiCienCy anD qUality

Altia has identified logistics as one of its core competences, so keeping tight in-house control of the area is the logical solu-tion. Combining all our logis-tics business across various countries into one logistics engine gives us the edge over competitors operating in a single area on a smaller scale. We are continuously developing our operations to ensure we perform best for our customers, and in the most efficient way.

19

A HANDFuL OF ACEs

TExT ian fenton

ILLusTRATION miltton/shutterstocK

ALTIA V I NTA g e 2 0 1 2


BIOENERGY BOOsT

E nvironmentally friendly, cost-efficient, modern. Altia’s new bioenergy steam

plant – designed to meet the stringent technical, environmental and financial demands of tomorrow – ticks all the boxes. The new steam plant, to be constructed in Koskenkorva, Western Finland by late 2014, will cut both costs and emissions at Altia’s biggest distilling facility.

The 10-megawatt plant will exploit renewable energy, producing steam needed for distilling in the Koskenkorva facility. This helps to make production more self-reliant fuel-wise and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 50%.

state-of-the-art technologyThe boiler plant, running solely on biomass, will be the first in Finland to employ the technology to make use of these fuels. “The primary fuel will be barley husks, which

A new steam plant featuring forward-looking bioenergy technology is to be constructed next to Altia’s Koskenkorva distillery.

are a by-product of ethanol and starch production at the plant,” says Koskenkorva plant director Antti Snellman. Other fuel possibilities include, for instance, straw or logging chips.

Once the plant is in operation, steam production at Koskenkorva will rise to 65% from the current 20%, enhancing the facil-ity’s self-reliance considerably.

The bioenergy plant will also allow for a dramatic decrease in peat dependency at Koskenkorva. The price of peat has risen, partly as a result of tax increases, as Finland wants to ramp down peat usage and encourage energy producers towards renewables in a bid to cut greenhouse gases. The new plant will reduce peat to a mere third of the fuel used for steam production, down from the current figure of 80%. This will be made possible by Altia refurbishing its existing 20-mega-

watt steam plant in 2015, enabling a more diverse use of fuels.

Big investment – high efficiencyThis innovation will strengthen Finland’s role in developing new bioenergy tech-nology for industrial purposes. The invest-ment required for the new steam plant amounts to 15 million euros, towards which Altia has been granted a 1.5-million-euro subsidy from the Finnish govern-ment. Suomen Teollisuuden Energia-palvelut, who provide sustainable energy solutions for industrial customers, will help Altia to complete the project.

“By building a completely new plant while renewing existing capacity, we will achieve significant cost savings. We will also be able to increase produc-tion capacity at the plant in the future,” Snellman predicts.

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PHOTO shutterstocK

The value of a company’s strategy is not how it looks on paper, but the way it grips

the hearts and minds of talented and motivated employees. Altia Culture is a new, long-term initiative to develop this

expanding company.

PROFILEpiritta Mononen

Team Leader

Rajamäki, finland

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eva lamppu

PHOTOs

tomi parKKonen,

Geir hauKursson

in good

company



W inning attitudes do not emerge by chance. Products can be imitated, workers tempted off, but one thing that cannot be stolen is an

organisation’s culture: the stance that can change the world and create success stories. This is why Altia, which has experienced a rapid expansion during recent years, began a long-term initiative to strengthen its company culture in May 2012.

The core aim is simple: for employees to work in a good company and be in good company. Altia believes that companies who develop their culture see better financial results, reduced sick-leave figures, more and better job applicants, more innovation, and are quicker to react to changes in the environ-ment and emerging possibilities. As a result, happier employees mean happier stakeholders.

The project, better described as a journey due to its on-going nature, was launched by defining Altia’s culture cornerstones in a common process. Now the signals of the new attitude are visible in all Altia’s workplaces from Finland to Denmark. We talked to four employees from three different coun-tries to discover the vital ingredients of a world-class organisa-tional culture.

seeing the big pictureTeam leader Piritta Mononen starts her day at 7 a.m. with a check-up to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Her 12-person team stores and provides materials needed for bottling, labelling and packaging of liquor at Altia’s Rajamäki plant in Southern Finland. Mononen does most of her work at the computer, working closely with marketing and product development, but if a problem occurs in the workshop, she chips in.

“My days are full of surprises and that’s how I like it. The variety of tasks keeps me going,” says Mononen, one of roughly 230 employees at the plant.

Like her colleagues at Rajamäki, and elsewhere at Altia, Mononen was recently introduced to a new initiative targeted at enhancing the company’s corporate culture and establishing smoother ways of working across all markets. The aim is for everyone to understand the essence of Altia’s culture cornerstones – a summation of the business’s strategic aims and values – and then start acting accordingly.

“instead of focusing strictly on one task, people will be encouraged to take

on more diverse roles.” Piritta Mononen

To get there, Altia’s company culture is being created in co-op-eration, not behind closed doors. The co-creation process has included workshops where all employees are encouraged to come up with ideas on how to enhance the culture and make Altia a better place to work. New and better ways of working will then be implemented based on these suggestions. In one of these work-shops, staff at Rajamäki reflected upon the concept of corporate culture – what it is and how everyone plays a role in developing it.

“Corporate culture is everything a company like Altia shows to the outside world, and everything that happens inside it: the way people work, for instance,” says Mononen.

A huge quantity of ideas has been collected from such workshops, and this spring the best of them will be put into action. In the Rajamäki plant, Mononen and her colleagues have already succeeded in changing things for the better, with a label storage function automated and new, functional workwear intro-

duced across Altia’s production facilities. Mononen, who began working for Altia in 2006, is currently working to streamline recla-mation and storage processes.

“We have let go of many old habits, but there are still things to be done, especially in terms of streamlining operations and working methods at Altia’s production sites,” she says.

The benefits of these efforts are crystal clear – efficiency will improve as cooperation between employees and functions tightens. The customer will get the best product and best quality of service for the best price, and individual employees will benefit from more diverse opportunities.

“Instead of focusing strictly on one task, people will be encour-aged to take on more diverse roles – to understand the bigger picture,” Mononen explains.

The glue that keeps a company togetherAt Altia, people have realised that the journey towards cultural awareness is not a package tour where travel guides plan and take care of your every need – but rather a voyage to a new and exciting country where curiosity and initiative are needed. Hence, alongside the workshops, a group of early ambassadors – all willing to enter new territory – have been selected to work for the culture initiative.

23ALTIA V i nta g e 2 0 1 2

Altia wants to offer these pioneers the opportu-nity to try out new ways of working and learning. One of these trailblazers is Bjarne Nielsen, Shop

Steward at the Svendborg plant in Denmark. He seems very enthusiastic about his new task, which so far has meant helping to organise and run workshops at the plant.

“I have always been very interested in influencing and devel-oping the organisation I work for. My role is also to encourage co-workers and make them realise the good parts of their work,” says Nielsen, who as Shop Steward represents employees and their union in discussions with management.

As with Rajamäki, changes have also been taking place at Svend-borg, a bottling plant that Altia bought in 2010, and which as of this year also hosts Altia’s logistics function. Moving logistics from Odense to Svendborg has been a big development – and a hot topic during the recent workshops.

Nielsen, who has bottled wines at the plant for 20 years, is opti-mistic and expects efforts to start paying off soon. He sees creating organisational culture as a win-win situation for both the company and its staff.

“The employees who do the actual job here are the ones who really know what works and what doesn’t. So for Altia it’s a chance to get feedback, listen and learn. For us –my colleagues and I – it’s about becoming a bit better every day and ultimately about keeping our jobs in a situation where competition is fierce.”

Nielsen thinks it is important to use all of Altia’s potential, and to collaborate with different colleagues.

“We need to be a team. If you look at any successful Danish company, they all have a strong culture. It’s the glue that keeps the company together.”

Targets set highA few weeks after attending a culture kick-off workshop, Vidar Hallingstad Larsen, an Area Sales Manager at Altia’s sales company Strøm in Oslo, is already working with a new set of targets.

“‘Don’t be afraid of setting tougher goals for yourself ’ was a key topic that stuck in my mind,” says Larsen, a sommelier, who spends approximately four days of the week in his Audi, driving across the country to meet his customers at hotels and restaurants.

Setting high targets is one of the Altia culture cornerstones. These have been added to the company’s performance dialogue process to ensure that all personnel have a chance to further reflect

“For us it’s about becoming a bit

better every day.”Bjarne Nilsen

PROFILEBjarne Nielsen

shop steward

svendborg, Denmark

Geir hauKursson


“Don’t be afraid of setting tougher goals for yourself.”

vidar Hallingstad Larsen

on their own actions and role from a cultural perspective. In addi-tion to evaluating performance in terms of achievements, talking about how employees achieve their targets is also important. That’s why special emphasis is being placed on enhancing the coaching skills of all managers at Altia.

“I will work to offer more incentives for my customers, basically meaning campaigns, where customers buy specific wines, and then get to join us on a trip to meet the winemaker,” Larsen tells us.

Another of his new targets is to take on a more active selling approach. Instead of waiting for customers to list the brands and products they need, Larsen will proactively recommend wines and liquors. He calls this “portfolio selling ”. Building new customer relationships is also on the list: working closely with Altia’s customers is what Larsen likes best. He knows their needs, and sees how the culture initiative will be important for them.

“When we become more adept at sharing information across markets, we will know more about the product and be able to serve our hotel and restaurant customers better. They will get the best products and the best service. This will, of course, also benefit our partners, whose brands we market and sell in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The more efficient we are, the more time we will have to be creative.”

A never-ending projectFinally, it’s time to hear what the head of the Altia Culture initia-tive, SVP, HR Sanna Hokkanen, thinks about the process. For her, organisational culture is a long-term, never-ending mind-set that aligns behaviour and ways of working with the company’s strategy and goals. It’s about being appreciated and feeling that one’s work has meaning.

At Altia’s headquarters in Helsinki, Hokkanen shares her outlook on the coming transformation: “As opposed to

a project with a set budget and schedule, we see this as an on-going journey and a state of mind that

will take several years to develop. The great thing is that we can be sure that many new ideas will come along the further we go, with every single one of our 1,100 employees influencing the creation of our journey towards being in good

company.”

PROFILEVidar Hallingstad Larsen

Area sales Manager

oslo, Norway

altia culture cornerstones

• Strategic impactWe set high, shared targets and will accept no compromise

• Effective leadershipWe have solution-driven leaders who coach their teams to win

• Successful collaboration We achieve goals and targets together as one Altia

• Customer-centricityWe deliver superior customer services and unique consumer experience

“Don’t be afraid of setting tougher goals

for yourself.”vidar Hallingstad Larsen

altia


As business and leisure travel in the Nordic and Baltic region increases, Altia’s travel retail

business has hit its stride.

GAINING MOMENTuM

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PHOTOs v iKinG line, shutterstocK, altia


After dipping in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the travel business in the Nordic and Baltic countries is back on track – and growing.

“The number of travellers has increased. Passengers on board ferries and at airports buy more affordable beverages, but also more expensive brands,” says Altia Open Markets director Søren Qvist, who runs the company’s operations in non-monopoly markets in the Nordic and Baltic region.

The business includes travel retail, which generates income through wine and spirits sales at airports and on board ferries in the region. Another part of the business is border trade, which profits from consumers who travel to shop for spirits and wines in harbour areas, for example.

From marketing to prof itThanks to recent positive trends in travel – combined with strategic efforts at Altia – travel retail has become profitable busi-ness. When Altia originally launched in this sector, it was mainly used to expose passengers to new brands and products, as marketing in state monopolies is strictly regulated.

The turnaround in travel retail has also been supported by the general growth of low budget airlines, and by the fact that ferry operators have further enhanced the travel experience.

“Previously it was seen as a marketing tool, not as a commercially valuable busi-ness. But today our approach is different,” Qvist explains.

The growing travel retail and border trade businesses also offer great opportu-nities for Altia’s partners.

“The Nordic travel retail sector is expected to grow ahead of the local markets in the next five years. We want to deliver growth for both Altia and our partners, and we see the Nordic travel retail sector as a good growth opportu-nity in the coming years, while giving

these pictures are about altia’s offering in


them online.

27ALTIA V I NTA g e 2 0 1 2

DiD yoU know?

• Alcohol legislation on travel retail is more flexible than in the Nordic region’s local markets. • Tax-free pricing combined with high passenger numbers will help to push sales volumes up.• Travel retail is a great channel for introducing and marketing new prod-ucts to Nordic consumers. • Altia’s travel retail market covers airports, airlines, ferry lines and the important border trade channel run by travel retail operators.



it online.

consumers more possibilities to purchase their favorite wines and spirits when trav-elling,” says Magnus Bååthe, Regional Partner Director at Altia.

Strategic efforts initiated in 2010 have validated Altia’s travel retail busi-ness commercially. The organisation has expanded to cover the entire region, including the western part of the Nordic market area, which is now allocated more focus and more staff than before. Efficiency of operations has improved as strategic actions are adjusted throughout the year.

“Like the surfer who rides the wave until it begins to fade out, and then spots the next one, we actively develop our strategy. It’s never static,” says Sören Qvist.

“Among our stronger brands was the Finnish spirit Jaloviina, which last year reached sales of more than 90,000 litres, thanks to successful sampling events and promotions. Sales have doubled since we introduced it to our travel retail customers in 2008–2009.”

In 2012, travel retail’s focus was to further penetrate existing markets – a task Altia managed “quite successfully” according to Qvist. In addition, more focus was given to partners and their portfolios in the Nordic travel retail market.

“This is an open retail environment that enables brand-building activities and direct connection with consumers. We are now able to give our partners a better opportu-nity to grow in the Nordics,” says Bååthe.

Border trade gets eff icientBorder trade is also becoming more and more lucrative. It is especially profitable on the Estonia–Finland and Denmark–Germany borders. The aim is to improve business across markets by further increasing synergy effects and knowledge sharing amongst Altia’s local markets.

“We want to improve our ways of working, set targets for the business, and develop resources and information flow between our business units,” says Søren Qvist. “How can we operate the business

better and more professionally? How are we working with our customers? How can we secure new growth?”

Qvist also sees a positive trend in this part of the travel industry. More and more consumers are travelling to the borders to buy cheap as a consequence of lower taxa-tion.

“But what is interesting is that instead of primarily buying spirits and wines, they now buy groceries and household equip-ment, or they take their car for a service check-up. Spirits are secondary, but they still use the opportunity to buy a box of vodka. For us, this is a key customer group, to which we will give even more focus via our newly aligned actions.”

Taking steps towards expansionAccording to Søren Qvist, there is still much potential to explore, especially in travel retail. This is why Altia is now looking to expand into completely new markets in Northern and Eastern Europe. By 2015, the company aims to be selling products at Schiphol airport in the Neth-erlands, and at airports in cities like Hamburg, Warsaw, Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

Qvist does not exclude plans to advance further south into Turkey and Spain, where tens of thousands of Swedes and Danes spend their vacations.

“The further we move from our tradi-tional markets, the more demanding it will be organisation-wise. However, giving holidaymakers access to brands they know and love – even when they are far from home – would certainly be of added value,” says Qvist.

Despite the challenges imposed by longer distances, Altia will continue to follow its customers and increase its presence both in existing as well as new markets.



it online.


ALTIA V i nta g e 2 0 1 2 31 rendezvous 31



it online.


Every week, tens of thousands of food and wine enthusiasts in

Finland and Sweden visit Altia’s web sites viinimaa.fi, bibendum.se,

and philipsonsoderberg.se.

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ILLusTRATION miltton/shutterstocK

BuILDING THE GOOGLE

OF wINEs

p roviding inspiration, product news and good advice on how to match food and drink, Altia’s consumer plat-forms cater to beginners and connoisseurs alike, as well

as assisting journalists and other professionals. For Altia and its partners, the web is a key means of getting to know and communi-cating with these customers.

Each target group has its own specific needs. Consumers want to be inspired. They want delicious new recipes created by top chefs and advice on how to match a certain dish with excellent wines. Journalists, sommeliers and restaurant and hotel managers are faced with a need for more in-depth information about new prod-ucts and their producers.

“Our aim is to be the Google of wines for consumers in the Finnish market. The new viinimaa.fi site, to be launched by summer 2013, will be the go-to resource for people planning dinners and social gatherings”, says Sari Salmela, PR Manager at Altia.

New tidbitsSalmela is in charge of renewing the Finnish web site viinimaa.fi. Today, the site attracts up to 50,000 visitors per month, creating unmatched visibility in the market for Altia’s own brands and those of its partners – top wine and spirits producers from around the world. By summer 2013, the site is bound to attract even more visitors.

The renewal project will integrate two existing web sites – mika-viini.fi and skycellar.fi – into the new Viinimaa site, which will present more wines than before. Food will still be the site’s main hook, as cooking continues to gain traction among Finns, Salmela tells us.

“But it will look and feel completely different. It will include more lifestyle-oriented content, such as blogs; it will be available as a mobile version; there will be social media elements; and it will all be wrapped in inspiring, visually-appealing design.”

swedish role modelsFor inspiration, Salmela and her team are studying bibendum.se and philipsonsoderberg.se, sites produced by Altia’s Swedish subsidiaries Bibendum and Philipson Söderberg.

Bibendum has seen visitor numbers rise on its web site, largely thanks to a recent renewal. Bibendum.se was upgraded technically, content-wise, and visually. The upgrade also allows for search engine optimization and better monitoring of visitor numbers.


“Our previous web site was out of date, so a renewal was a must. Now the site has a fresh visual appearance, it helps you find the right drink for the right food and occasion, and has links to our YouTube channel, showing commer-cials and films by producers, and an online shop allowing you to make purchases,” says Ulrika Nordgren at Bibendum.

Consumers who want to learn more about wines by joining wine trips or tastings can join Bibendum’s member club, Passion for Taste. Journalists have access to an integrated press room and image gallery, which helps them find interesting stories, and professionals

in the hotel and restaurant business have a section of their own.Philipsonsoderberg.se publishes the latest wine news and

reviews. The company has a similar member club to that of Bibendum, and also offers a purchasing function. Wine enthusi-asts can subscribe to newsletters and a magazine published by the company. In total, over 100,000 consumers in Finland and Sweden subscribe to Altia’s member club newsletters.

“The web site is a key tool for us: it brings consumers closer to the company’s partner brands,” says digital editor Monica Myrvold in Stockholm.

“the site helps you find the right drink for the

right food and occasion.”

Altia’s Viinimaa, Bibendum and Philipson

Söderberg sites provide in-depth information for

diverse target groups such as journalists, sommeliers,

business owners, and end customers.


THE FuTuRE Is TRENDING

Altia’s Milla Sorsakivi and Fredrik Bergström forecast

the industry’s hottest trends.

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PHOTO shutterstocK, Gorilla, johner

1 New tastes. The alcohol industry constantly welcomes new flavours to titillate taste buds. Current trend predictions indicate that chocolate and citrus are particularly à la mode,

but with slight variations. “By chocolate, I don’t mean ordinary flavors,” Milla Sorsakivi tells us, “but advanced variations such as dark chocolate or chocolate from specific origins. Also, citrus flavour doesn’t just mean lemon, but more refined tastes such as blood orange or lime.”

The evolution of familiar flavours demonstrates that nuances are being explored in order to make the product more refined. Additionally, tea and honey are now hotter than ever as flavours and ingredients. What lies behind this trend is the fact that green tea in particular has gained a reputation for its health benefits. Honey, a flavour also associ-ated with the wellness trend, has recently been added to whisky to give it a special rich taste. Time will tell whether it is here to stay.

2 Homing. “The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room,” the French philosopher Pascal wrote in 1670. He knew what he was

talking about – consumers really have done it all outside the home over the years. But as tough economic times take their toll on most businesses, consumers seem to stay at home more. Nature’s offer-ings, homemade food, and recycling provide people with more and more pleasure and satisfaction. In a related trend, experts are also seeing a renaissance for home-mixed cocktails and a growing interest in wine and food matching. The “homing” trend opens up a great deal of market opportunities for Altia and its partners since there are more and more customers who drink, eat, entertain, and generally spend more time at home to save money.

3 The classic cocktail revival. It seems that more and more people want to drink like Don Draper from the U.S. TV series Mad Men – or at least the classic drinks revival indicates as

much. Strong tasting spirits, such as bourbon, gin and rye whisky, are back in fashion. Drinkers are seeking out well-crafted cocktails

made using traditional recipes. If Sex and the City gave the cocktail scene a boost at the turn of the millennium with its cosmopolitans and flirtinis, the new century’s second decade is all about the clas-sics: bloody marys, vodka gimlets, martinis – and, of course, Don’s favourite, the old fashioned.

Retro is trendy at the moment; the Internet is full of cocktail recipes taking inspiration from the history of bartending – dating as far back as the golden era of the 1920s. Spirits drunk as a shot are also on the up.

4 Wine knowledge increasing. People are getting serious about wines – and more than ever before. “The growing interest in TV shows on cooking and fine dining has resulted

in more and more consumers wanting to know which wine goes with which food,” says Fredrik Bergström.

This point is easily proven by a quick look around the Internet; a vast number of tips, courses, blogs, and tutorials are available for the inspired and ambitious wine consumer. People also increas-


ingly seem to condider wine in the context of food. The search for the perfect match of food and drink is an everyday discussion topic at workplaces – it’s no longer an area of snobbery reserved for the elite.

5 Comfort and wellness. People like to feel good about them-selves: that’s no news to anyone. Sure enough, trend analysts have tracked global consumers’ buying behaviour and

found an increasing need for comfort, escapism and simplicity in response to growing levels of stress and uncertainty. In everyday life, this manifests itself as general enjoyment and happiness.

“People are more aware of health and wellness. It’s not just about watching one’s calories, but taking care of oneself and enjoying life,” says Milla Sorsakivi. The wellness mega-trend manifests itself in a casual context; good health has become a status symbol that is being reinforced by buying. Certain products or services are seen as luxury goods that help people improve their lives. In the wine and spirit industry, the wellness trend can be seen in the increasing preference for organic and natural products.

6 Plastic bottles. The growing emphasis on the carbon foot-print of packaging has encouraged the development of plastic bottles, especially those made of the recyclable PET

(polyethylene terephthalate). While glass is reaching its limits in terms of light-weighting, for example, new PET bottles offer an attractive alternative in terms of sustainability, technical perfor-mance and pack-weight reduction.

“Younger generations take a positive view on the topic of plastic bottles. PET is going to be a new standard for them,” Milla Sorsakivi predicts. The use of recyclable plastic bottles is a signifi-cant development for the industry in terms of its environmental position. The future will show to what extent PET bottles find their way into consumers’ everyday life.

7 Local thinking. The local movement has been up and running for quite a while now. Its aim is to build locally based economies, in which production, distribution and

consumption take place in a local setting to enhance the close


vicinity both environmentally and economically. This philosophy is not unfamiliar to Altia – quite the opposite.

“Little distilleries and breweries are popping up all over the world. For us Finns, Koskenkorva is an example of local thinking,” Milla Sorsakivi says.

In addition, wines from all over the world are being bottled and packaged as bag-in-boxes at Altia’s site in Svendborg, Denmark. This way, the packaging and distribution is organised as closely as possible to the end users: Nordic consumers.

8 Corporate and social responsibility. Hand in hand with health awareness, PET, and local thinking, there is a clear increase in corporate and social responsibility within the

industry. “This is somewhat forced by regulations and the monop-olies in our market but also by the business itself,” Fredrik Berg-ström says.

Responsibility incorporates a variety of initiatives and labels, such as fair trade, organically grown, light-weight bottles, carbon-neutral, sustainable agriculture, and so on. The debate also concerns itself with the problems of binge drinking and minimum pricing within the EU. Such discussion clearly impacts the markets.

“The market strongly supports healthy drinking culture and an alcohol-free youth. For example, trade organisations are commu-nicating to schools about the potentially dangerous consequences of an early start with alcohol,” Bergström informs us.

Milla Sorsakivi, 31Role in Altia: Consumer Insight ManagerFavorite Cocktail: Whiskey Ginger AleFavorite drink for relaxing with friends: Self-mixed cocktailsThe treasure you break out for a special celebration: Champagne

Fredrik Bergström, 30Role in Altia: Market Intelligence & Research Manager Favorite Cocktail: Whiskey sourFavorite drink for relaxing with friends: Craft beerThe treasure you break out for a special celebration: Champagne


T he Sokos Vaakuna hotel’s Karma nightclub, located in Seinäjoki, Finland, was in need of refurbish-

ment and refinement, particularly when it came to catering for their young, trend-focused customers. In 2012, Altia Academy helped them with their product offering, personnel development, and re-evaluated the bar’s core business from the ground up.

Joonas uitto: “Altia Academy’s thorough analysis was the highlight for me.”

Altia conducted a ”Bottoms Up” analysis at Karma with the overall aim of ensuring that the drinks selection made a good match with the customer base. In Karma’s

How does Altia Academy help a nightclub to better serve its core customer base? We spoke to bar manager Joonas Uitto about the journey from “before” to “after”.

37ALTIA V I NTA g e 2 0 1 2

WHAT MAKEs GooD KARMA?

TExT ian fenton

PHOTOs altia


The newly renovated Karma in action.

case, that meant students and young people from the surrounding area, who use the nightclub to meet up, dance, and socialise: to see and be seen.

every item behind the bar was evaluated according to sales and profitability. Then some tough and surprising decisions were made: items that had seemed essential were revealed to be going nowhere, and several new avenues opened up.

Ju: “We needed real pros to help us conduct this huge shake-up.” Karma was closed for six weeks as the renovations were conducted, during which time staff were retrained as part of the Altia Academy program.

The main emphasis was on harmonising best practices across the staff, and making sure everyone was aligned on the improve-ments being made to the premises and the bar offering.

A bar simulator was also used, with staff in friendly competition to demonstrate the fact that every member of staff, young and

older alike, have something to offer and something to learn from.

Bar staff also took some time out to devise new cocktail ideas, some of which are now in the Karma repertoire! The updated drinks selection and harmo-nised approach to tending bar has led to some positive developments.

The idea is simply to engage with the customer more, and find out where their tastes and preferences lie. With

the bar revised and up to date, there is now a continuous effort to both listen to customers and let them know that new drinks they might like are now on offer!

And in the unlikely event of someone ordering a drink Karma no longer serves, the staff are able to simply ask a few ques-tions and deliver something similar, but perhaps with a new twist.

Ju: “Together with Altia, we’ve created a real success here.” Feedback from customers has been over-whelmingly positive, with the renovated Karma finding favour with newcomers and familiar faces alike. Sales have exceeded expectations.

The acoustics send the music to the dance floor where it belongs, allowing others to chat in relative peace on the side-lines.

Cocktails are selling well, including some thought up during the Altia Academy sessions.

39

MIKAEL KARTTuNEN AND ANTTI vALTANEN

“Last year Altia Academy in Finland has completed several tastings and training sessions for our customers as well as providing train-ings for Alko, Finland’s off-trade monopoly. We have also organised occasions and tastings for other networking events: the media, the on-trade, and the Bartenders’ Guild, for example. In total, we’ve reached around 1000 people.

We’ve been very much involved with Altia’s product develop-ment. The biggest project has been the listing of the new Triple Orange Baltic Rum. Achieving an Alko listing for a new in-house product is always very satisfying. We have also a cocktail catalogue in the works to follow up on the listing of Koskenkorva 30%.

Our priority in 2013 is to take good care of our main customers, such as Alko and the biggest restaurant chains in Finland: Restel and HOK-Elanto. We will do everything we can to make Altia’s products easier to sell.”

MATs CLAëssON

“2012 was a hectic, challenging, but very successful year for us. In Sweden, we reached almost 2000 people in our tastings and training sessions, and performed way beyond our targets.

A typical week for us contained at least one day of training for Horeca customers, and a tasting for consumers in Altia Academy Wine Club. It would also have included preparations for new courses and tastings, as well as a great deal of communication and planning with our Swedish brand and trade partners, not forgetting dialogue with end consumers via email and our web site.

In wine, the trend is to go back to more classical regions and appellations like Bordeaux and Bourgogne, with Italy taking pole position in lower price ranges from South Africa. There was also quite a lot of discussion on natural wines during 2012, especially among restaurants in the higher gastronomy sector.

For consumers, an important topic was wine pairing, and specific advice on which wines suit which foods. We see it as important to develop the culture surrounding wines, spirits, and other beverages, and we have continued to do so in 2013.”

DID YOu KNOw? • Altia Academy is Altia’s training and business consultation service.

• It offers comprehensive and practical coaching services for professionals and students, in sweden also for consumers.

• These services include advice focused on product and service offering, personnel, and business strategy.

• Altia Academy routinely organises events for its customers, such as tastings and hands-on training sessions of various kinds.

rendezvous

MOvERs AND sHAKERsAltia Academy’s industry experts shared their personal highlights of 2012.

39

Lessons and experiences from the people that matter.

CoNsUMERs UNDER THE LENs


CoNsUMERs UNDER THE LENs

Can consumer preferences ever be reliably predicted? Perhaps not, but Altia’s consumer insight specialists believe we can get close.

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ILLusTRATION

miltton/

shutterstocK


“What women want” is what Nick Marshall, the advertising guru played by Mel Gibson, aims to discover in the film of the same

name from the year 2000. One morning, Nick slips in his bathroom and gets an electric shock from a hairdryer. After the accident, he is surprised to find that he can hear women’s deepest thoughts and hopes. “If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, and you can speak Venutian, the world can be yours,” is how Nick’s therapist sums up the possibilities of his new talent.

Canvassing the needs, preferences, and secret wishes of consumers is among the toughest challenges in business. Though in real life, telepathic powers are seldom considered a basic skill for employees, consumer preferences and the quiet signals they send out can be successfully interpreted by working systematically and uncompromisingly. At Altia, this work is done by market research and consumer insight specialists dedicated to serving Altia’s busi-ness. One of them is Milla Sorsakivi, who works at the company’s Helsinki office. Her main duty is exploring and probing for trends, consumer opinions, research, facts and general information. A vast amount of data is filtered and refined in Milla’s hands, and trans-formed into interesting, high quality insights for the use of Altia. It may not be telepathy, but it’s not far off.

“We can use this information to develop new concepts in marketing and long-term product planning. We try to find pointers in higher-level matters, which we can then put into practice,” Milla says.

Consumer insight is a field Altia has significantly invested in over the past few years – both financially and in terms of mind-set. As the market leader, Altia strives for solutions in product and concept development and marketing, which are based on research findings and open discourse. The work of consumer insight professionals also benefits Altia’s partners and their products: the potential for success is maximised when the market, upcoming trends, and consumer wishes have been analysed to the fullest possible extent.

How does the magic happen?So just how are scattered pieces of information, vague trend signals, and findings from a variety of studies turned into valu-able insights that are of tangible use to Altia? The secret lies in comparison.

“Different consumer studies might produce a certain kind of data, but as such it only gives us answers of a particular type, shaped from one perspective. But when the results of a single consumer study are also reflected in the material from trend reports, we get much more information than either of these could give us individually,” Milla says.

Consumer insight is not a one-woman show at Altia, but a collaboration. For example, large-scale consumer studies require plenty of resources and scores of working hours – even days. One such case is an extensive brand study executed for Altia annually, in which thousands of respondents from different countries are asked

for their opinions on dozens of different brands to measure their performance in consumers’ eyes. Additionally, employees keep track of numerous sources and pass on any substantial informa-tion to everyone else through a newly developed

consumer insight and market intelligence portal. Open discussion and exchanging thoughts are key

to allow Altia to produce new and valuable information for developing its business.

“The interesting part is when we get a report and start thinking about what it means in the light of all the information we already have. I feel like my role is to be a sort of a filter,” Milla laughs.

what is the use of all this?This comprehensive consumer-insight mentality is fairly new at Altia. Various types of consumer studies have been done for some time, but large-scale systematic work has only taken place during 2012. Milla Sorsakivi’s job ranges from planning and going through large-scale quantitative studies to reading trend reports, blogs, and magazines. Consumers are at the heart of the job: they are involved in everything from concept and layout testing all the way to studies concerning the brand’s familiarity and image.

“Consumers are sometimes very passionate about different brands. It

is nice to be able to discover that the products we represent often

have a certain meaning for people,” Milla says.

The work that consumer insight specialists do has

f a r - r e a c h i n g s i g n i f i c a n c e for Altia’s operations. As the

“internal news agency”, these experts contribute to making sure that Altia stays

in tune with the times and operates cost-efficiently. Solutions for partners’ challenges can then also be found from within the organ-isation.

Investing in consumer insight is also a way for Altia to stand out from the competition. As a large corporation, Altia has the oppor-tunity to invest more time and money than other companies into consumer discourse. The consumer-insight mind-set is an aim written into the company strategy, and is part of every working day at Altia.

“This is why we’re able to create and market products which are proven to be interesting for the customers. I feel that Altia is a pioneer of sorts, striving to advance the whole business,” Milla explains.

Milla emphasizes the fact that the significance of discourse with consumers cannot be over-stressed, and Altia will continue to invest in the area.

“We want to listen to what consumers want. That’s how we are able to offer them interesting, up-to-date products and things that make their everyday lives easier – in ways they may not have even hoped for.”

“I feel that Altia is a pioneer of sorts,

striving to advance the whole business.”

As a large corporation, Altia has

the opportunity to invest more time and money

than other companies into consumer discourse.

42

It can often feel like a physical impos-sibility to combine food and drink at a

time when there is so much variety around. We used to drink red wine, white wine or beer. We ate meat or fish. In just a few years, food and drink seem to have become incredibly complicated and the demands are skyrocketing. Now food should be locally grown and organic. Instead of selecting wine by country, we want to drink Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont, Veneto or Priorat. Why this might be, one could spec-ulate for an eternity. Are we all so suscep-tible to trends? Or perhaps the labels have gotten prettier?

P ersonally, I think it’s easy to be influ-enced in different directions when it

comes to one’s choice of beverage. We are informed daily about new products just by reading a newspaper or turning on the TV. A five-star wine on the back of my news-paper – I’ll take that! Will it live up to my expectations? Maybe, maybe not. But at least I’ll have tried it.

The unfortunate truth is that when people ask me – as a sommelier – which wines to drink, many will be disappointed. Drinking wine is subjective. As with art appreciation, something I think is abso-lutely amazing, you might consider to be junk. And that’s something we just have to accept, and perhaps be grateful that such a wide range of products, to suit all tastes, is now available to us.

T here is also another often-overlooked aspect of the search for new expe-

riences like trying new drinks. In most cases it will be the particular time, place and companions that create that magical feeling we all crave. For example, how many of you have been to greece? Relaxed until late afternoon at the beach, eating some olives, maybe some fresh bread and a bottle of Retsina? (Nice!) Anyone who has done exactly that will tell you that it’s

living up to expectations

Decide for yourself what you think is

good, what you stand for, and what you

want to drink tonight.

not a feeling you can precisely relive back home, try as you might.

Just as we are constantly bombarded with new products, we also suffer overex-posure to other people’s judgements and impressions of them. With vocabulary drifting into very subjective talk of notes and aromas, it’s not easy to get involved in the world of wine. Amongst the thousands of sommeliers out there, there are also thousands of ways of assessing different products. And if we were to ask those thou-sands of sommeliers what you should drink tonight with your evening meal, we would get thousands of different proposals.

P ersonally, I take a slightly different view. Since we are all different, have

different taste perceptions, and different financial resources, I’d have to say that in the end it’s all about you. Decide for your-self what you think is good, what you stand for, and what you want to drink tonight.

Mathias Stenius, Sommelier

Mathias is a Swedish sommelier at the restaurant Wijnjas. He believes that the world of wine is relative: one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure.

www.wijnjas.com

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VINTAGE - Altia · Building the Google of wines The future is trending What makes good karma?...

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