After a year in 2021 where we saw sales growth of over 18%, our focus in 2022 has been on infrastructure development, process improvements, and streamlining our communication systems. We also restructured our portfolio to become a leaner, more responsive organization. The rewards of our hard work in operational efficiencies, improved employee and customer satisfaction, financial security, and ultimately, sales growth have set us up to make 2023 an unprecedented year.
We finalized the warehouse move of our sister Company, Kindred Vines Import Co, to the East Coast. Truckloads of inventory were moved out of Troy, Michigan and into Gironde Logistics in Woodbury, Connecticut. In doing so, we made a lot of tough decisions on what brands and individual SKU’s we were going to continue with, and we spent the year depleting through non-essential inventory. Since Kindred operates in over 30 States throughout the Country, it made sense to locate the warehouse near the shipping ports on the East Coast, and we gained even more operational visibility on both the inventory and the business as a whole.
The impact on Woodberry Wine’s warehouse operations was immediate and dramatic. Much improved inventory management, route optimization, warehouse automation, and efficient use of manpower came directly at a time where we experienced sky rocketing costs and inflationary pressures that we had never experienced before. Without this focus on streamlining our operations, and getting our costs under control, we avoided what could have been a very difficult situation for our Company.
While we were thrilled with being back to “normal” with the economy coming back and our beloved restaurant customers operating at near normal levels, the impact of the COVID shutdowns left us with too much inventory and almost 20% being back vintaged, non-moving, or no longer needed. In 2022, we identified and sold over 60 pallets worth of such inventory, much of it below cost, in order to start fresh again in 2023. It was an arduous task, but a very necessary one and with each passing month, we collectively felt our burden getting lighter and lighter.
This didn’t stop us from investing in New Brands for our future. In fact, that is one of the core reasons we have been moving out non-essential inventory – so that we CAN invest in brands and wines that strengthen our portfolio. Gainey, Dancing Crow, Cass, Wolffer Estates, Hill Family Estate, Flaneur, and Chateau Rouillac were all added to our portfolio this year, giving our clients and consumers additional choices in the Michigan market. As part of this investment, we sent our sales team to both Napa and Willamette Valley to continue their education and ignite passion in our people for the wines we represent.
We invested a lot in training and infrastructure. All of our warehouse team members were Hi-Lo certified, we reviewed all of our Security policies, our return policies, audited our UPC back labels for our retail clients, implemented Route Management software, went live with SevenFifty for our Sales and Marketing team, updated our website, and purchased three new Vans for our fleet. The warehouse team is in the final stages of implementing bar code management software, an extension of our proprietary business management system, which will propel us to another level of quality and productivity gains.
One of my favorite parts of 2022 was to be able to see so many of our wonderful clients and suppliers at the 6 trade shows that we conducted throughout the year – completed in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Traverse City, and Metro Detroit. Our sales team, with the support of our Best in the Industry operations and delivery team grew our business 4 %, despite all the headwinds that we were confronted with. To say that I am proud of their accomplishments would be a serious understatement.
We successfully re-negotiated all of our bank lines of credit to insure access to the capital that we need to continue to grow the business. Indeed, our objective is to once again double the size of our business, which will come at a rate that is proportionate with our ability to earn that growth. 2023 will begin our quest to once again challenge ourselves to achieve our mission of being our customer’s favorite distribution partner
I look forward to seeing you this next year. Please send me an email or a text if you have any constructive ideas on how we can continue to improve our Company.
Respectfully,
Dan Glisky, Jr.
CEO and Managing Partner
Woodberry Wine
248-417-9011
Comments are closed
