Scottish wholesaler JW Filshill has acquired the Eldorado Tonic Wine brand, kick-starting its plans to diversify into the alcoholic drinks market.
The acquisition is part of a wider deal that saw the family-owned wholesaler take ownership of KB Agencies for an undisclosed sum.
The new business stream will operate under a subsidiary, Differentiator Brands, which will market and sell the Eldorado range to wholesale and convenience customers.
Filshill said it planned to “accelerate the visibility” of its new brand in its KeyStore and KeyStore More convenience stores in the Scottish market, as well as rolling it out across England, initially targeting cities including Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.
“This represents a new approach for us and a different route to market which will allow us to engage with wholesalers and convenience stores outside of our current wholesale business structure,” said Filshill CEO Simon Hannah.
“We have first-hand experience of what wholesalers and retailers need from a brand and we now have a chance to put some of that in place. This gives us ownership of an established brand for the first time in over 40 years and underpins our ambitions to diversify the business as well as attract new customers and grow a category of the UK alcoholic drinks market.
“We are excited about the opportunity to be able to put in place and trial some innovative marketing initiatives to drive category growth, expand geographical distribution and generate sales across the wholesale and retail channels.”
Former Halewood sales manager Kenny Brown has joined Differentiator Brands as customer development manager, having worked with the Eldorado brand when Halewood part-owned it with KB Agencies.
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