Family Winery Rewarded For Stunning Export Growth

South Australian family business Wines by Geoff Hardy has been named Australian Exporter of the Year at the Optus My Business Awards 2017 in Sydney.

The winery took out the award against other well-known Australian companies including Australian success story, aussieBum.

“This is a remarkable achievement by our company and we are of course very honoured to be included in such great company,” CEO Richard Dolan said.

“We have a small and very dedicated team who have all been essential to the continued growth we’ve had in our export markets.”

Wines by Geoff Hardy has seen huge developments in its overseas markets over the past few years, recording double digit export growth each year for six consecutive years.

Between FY11 and FY16, the company’s export sales grew by a massive 885 percent, with 81 percent growth in FY16 alone and a further FY17 growth of 41 percent.

“While sales to China have played a major role in that growth, we have also opened new markets in India, Finland, Sweden, UK, Hong Kong and Canada with further markets opening soon in Peru, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan,” Richard said.

“We still have plenty of scope for further growth in the UK and mainland Europe, as well as North America, where we have little to no representation. We are actively looking for new partners in these more traditional markets, together with other new and emerging markets in Asia.”

“In addition to our success, the nomination of fellow South Australian family wine business, Patritti, in the same award category is great news for the broader industry – wine is one of our state’s largest exports and this shows that there’s still plenty of opportunity out there to grow.”

Wines by Geoff Hardy is made up of three South Australian wineries founded by Geoff – Pertaringa in McLaren Vale, K1 by Geoff Hardy in the Adelaide Hills and Hand Crafted by Geoff Hardy / GMH. The company produces around 1.2 million bottles of wine per year, all sourced from a variety of premium regions across South Australia.

The Optus My Business Awards is the longest-standing business awards program in Australia, and identifies and acknowledges the achievements of Australia’s best companies.

Richard Dolan.