COMPANY PROFILE Wine Making Business

COMPANY PROFILE : Universal Wine BVBA - Industriepark Noord 30 - Beernem 8730 - Belgium - VAT BE0861427801 - web : www.universalwine.be
Universal Wine was founded in April 1994 by Kurt Dewaele. It specializes in the direct import of New World Wines. In 1997, after 3 years renting storage, Kurt decided to build his own large warehouse on an Industrial Estate near the E40 Freeway conveniently close to all the major cities. Due to continued expansion this has been replaced by new premises, at the same location, with a stockholding capacity of 100.000 bottles. Since 2012 we needed more space for our full LKW & container loads so we now additional rent a 60.000 bottles warehouse opposite ours. Since 2006 Kurt attracted a partner by the person of Kristof Samyn, formally a Universal Wine private customer, he came into the business as a hobbyist but with professional education and expertise. They now run the business together to ensure continue sales. In august 2009 Rik Bert joined the team to continue our expansion. Currently our team has around 30 independent sales people & wine outlets around the country and we supply al together around 300 restaurants in Belgium ( from bistro to *** star Michelin ).

Our Customers
The cellar door is open on Saturdays. In addition we have private customers on the mailing list. We also supply local restaurants and independent retailers nation-wide. An internet shop also secure 24 hours and 7 days sales. The main objective of Universal Wine is to sell wine not available in the supermarkets! Most of the wines that we offer are imported exclusively to Belgium.

The wines
We are looking at wines from the new-and old world in the retails price range from 4 to 8 for 80% of our list, the other 20% is from 8 till 15. We like to sell different wines like Refosk from Slovenia or a Tannat from Argentini. We don't want to charge our customers for to many medals and prestige but we are looking for the medals in the bottle that reflexs the hard work of the winemaker in the cellar and his vineyards. Wine with an EXTRA value for money report ! A long term relationship with the producers and a mutual understanding is priority in order to receive both a win-win situation.

The Results
Today sales are around 500.000 bottles / year. Benefits are in the rotation of our stock, not in our margin. Costs are kept low to keep the margins competitive!

The Future
Our aim is to keep on building for happy customers. Give them the service, the personal advices and the tasting that they are looking for. We see Universal Wine as a niche player on the Belgium traditional wine market with a healthy and long term growth. Our company profile in PDF : Universal Wine Company Profile 2013.pdf

1. Read the text and match the words to their synonyms/definitions.

1. nation-wide 2. retailers 3. a niche player 4. healthy growth 5. to charge 6. a win-win situation 7. founded 8. warehouse 9. storage 10. freeway 11. premises 12. customer 13. to run a business 14. cellar a. Client. b. A room or enclosed space used for storage, usually beneath the ground or under a building. c. The action or method of keeping something for future use. d. Motorway. e. Those who sell goods to the public in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale. f. All over the nation. g. Bill/ask in payment. h. A situation where everyone gains. i. A house or building, together with its land and outbuildings, occupied by a business or considered in an official context. j. To direct or manage operations in a business. k. It is a company holding a specialized and profitable part of a commercial market. Such a company specializes in a particular product or service. l. It is a commercial building for storage of goods. m.Positive development. n. Established or originated

1. Answer the questions.

1. Where is the company based? ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. When was it founded? ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. What does it specialize in? ___________________________________________________________________________

4. How many partners are there? ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. Does the company only supply wine to expensive restaurants? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. Is there a shop where people can go buy their wines? _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. Is it possible to find their wines in a supermarket? Why or why not? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. Are all their wines expensive? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 9. Do they keep a close relationship with producers? Why or why not? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 10. What is the companys main objective? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________