The traditional Agent/Importer model poses serious obstacles to a winery hoping to access the UK for the first time, not least because there are far fewer viable ‘slots’ in importers’ portfolios than there are bins on the shelves of quality retailers and wholesalers – and COVID has only made this bottleneck more pronounced. Witnessing the UK’s upsurge in retail and online sales producers have explored other routes into the UK, but this usually entails landing the stock here themselves – an expensive and risky endeavour.

That’s why we established Propeller. We provide ‘distribution as a service’ and set up their wines for long term success in the market, without the cost base or competing agency priorities of a ‘normal importer’. Our aim is to help them develop a viable long term business in the UK, and because we don't make a margin on sales it opens up the possibility of our retail and wholesale partners becoming their regional agents in the medium term. Producers only pay a fixed monthly fee to support our sales team meaning that they retain control of the product lifecycle and can set optimal pricing for their wines.

This unique model allows Propeller to tackle some of the regions (and styles) where regular agents fear to tread, and our warehousing and distribution capabilities mean that numerous producers can pool resources in a single shipment, enabling us to offer you a more varied and constantly evolving selection of wines, most of which have never been seen in the UK before.