Della Vite, the Prosecco brand founded by celebrity sisters Cara, Poppy and Chloe Delevingne, launches in the EU just months after the brand’s expansion into the US, rounding off 2021 with a bang.
Della Vite was started with the aim of premiumising the Prosecco space within the UK market. Since its launch in September 2020, Della Vite has secured over 250 premium on and off trade independent listings in the UK, including the likes of Selfridges, The Fat Duck, Jeroboams and The Goring. It has also partnered with online retailer Ocado, a key customer milestone for the brand.
“Education around the Prosecco category is still a work in progress, but one which Della Vite is very much leading as one of the few branded Proseccos in the UK,” says Clara Latham, General Manager at Della Vite.
“What only a few people currently understand is that, similar to Champagne, there is a spectrum of different Proseccos produced that range in quality, so educating customers and consumers on what differentiates Della Vite from an entrance-level Prosecco remains a huge priority for us.
“Excitingly, we can already see attitudes towards sparkling wine beginning to change, with drinking occasions becoming more frequent and consumers continuing to trade up. Consumers are not only buying into our quality credentials by choosing to gift our Proseccos, but also by preferencing our Superiore D.O.C.G, which is reflected in our sales split. For us, that’s very much a proof point for delivering on our mission to premiumise the category.”
Educating consumers about wine becomes a whole lot easier as the Prosecco brand with the highest number of Instagram followers.
“Della Vite is about creating more than just a product – it’s a lifestyle brand with strong beliefs around sustainability and quality. Our digital presence is an important part of building our brand identity and creating a product with values our customers feel aligned with. The power of our digital presence has helped us in connecting with audiences and new territories,” says Latham.
And the brand is making an impact outside of the UK, too. Expansion into the US began in September 2021, just a year after the sisters launched the brand.
“It’s unusual for such a young brand to expand into one of the largest and most complex markets at such an early stage,” Latham says, but there were two particular reasons which gave the Delevingne sisters and the business confidence.
Firstly, the high demand for premium Prosecco in the US meant there was a clear category opportunity which they were sure Della Vite could tap into. Secondly, the sisters were keen to make their products available to their strong US fan base.
“The UK launch taught us the importance of education and relationship-building with trade customers, so we took a segmented approach to the US and focussed on a few key states, which we felt had the largest opportunity,” says Latham.
To date, the brand has launched in California, New York, and Florida, with plans to scale nationally with the help of country-wide distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
Della Vite also made its first transition into EU markets this year, launching in Sweden at the end of November.
“When considering expansion into a new market, our key reference points are always the category opportunity, cultural trends and our digital metrics for that particular market.
Sweden’s “adventurous wine market”, in which sparkling wine is highly popular despite not being produced in the country, and restrictions on purchasing alcohol in retail making the on trade scene “particularly vibrant” were both contributing factors.
“There is also a large focus on sustainability which, as an 100% vegan and sustainably-sourced brand, Della Vite is well positioned to lean into,” Latham adds.
The brand’s success over the past year has not come without challenges. As a Prosecco brand whose grapes are grown in Italy’s Valdobbiadene region, Della Vite’s 2021 harvest was affected by the extreme weather patterns which troubled most of Europe’s wine production.
“The impact has been a salient reminder of the importance of our environmental credentials and mission to be a sustainable brand. Fortunately, although the yields were down, the result of the 2021 harvest has been of excellent quality, which as a premium Prosecco brand is the key factor for us,” says Latham.
“Launching a brand under the constraints of Covid in year one and balancing our supply chain in year two has certainly meant that no two days are the same, but we’re absolutely not letting the challenges curb our enthusiasm or passion for growing the Della Vite brand.”