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Niche Marketing
In an business dominated by California and Europe, Branwar Wines builds its area of interest with South African wines
21
Feb
Feb
In 1997, Wayne Luckett, then a Southwestern Bell engineer, moved his family to Johannesburg, South Africa, for a job assignment that lasted 5½ years and led to an appreciation, if not devotion, to the country’s fine wines. When he left, he returned to Houston with what he thought was a two-year supply of his favorite Bordeaux blends, Pinotages and Chenin Blancs.
Six months later, after sharing with family and friends, the wine was nearly gone.
The necessity of restocking his supply led to the invention of a new career for Luckett: wine importer and distributor. Today, Luckett and his son, Warren, run Branwar Wines, supplying many of Houston’s top restaurants and building a niche in South African wines in an international industry dominated by California and Europe. Before the pandemic, Branwar was selling as many as 2,500 cases a year to more than 200 customers, and employing about a dozen people.
Like many businesses, Branwar was hard hit when COVID-19 all but shut down the economy and battered its restaurant, bar and hotel clients. And like many businesses that survived the shock, Branwar made tough decisions — at one point furloughing nearly its entire staff — and pivoting to new markets, such as liquor and grocery stores. Its new customers include the grocery chains H-E-B and Central Market and the liquor store chain Specs.
“We were really on a continued growth pattern before COVID,” Wayne Luckett said. “COVID really gave us some tremendous challenges. But with things starting to open now, we’re beginning to see more daylight.”
Falling in love
Wayne Luckett, who worked more than 30 years for Southwestern Bell (now AT&T), wasn’t a big wine drinker when he was sent to South Africa. But as he dined with clients and friends in restaurants in Johannesburg and Cape Town, wine was always part of the meal. He began to develop an appreciation and then a palate for wine.
“The food tasted better,” he said, “and to be quite honest, I fell in love with wine.”
That love of wine followed him back to Houston. When his stash of South African wines had nearly run out, he called American friends in Johannesburg to ask them to ship more wine. The couple — businessman Ron Gault and his wife, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the celebrated journalist who integrated the University of Georgia — said they were planning to start a wine label and asked if Luckett wanted to be involved.
That discussion led Luckett to the wine business, first as a broker to help bring the Gault’s “Passages” label to the United States and later as an importer and wholesale distributor. In 2010, Wayne and Warren Luckett launched Branwar — a combination of the names of Wayne Luckett’s two sons, Brandon and Warren.
Brandon Luckett is an orthodontist in Ohio, but Warren was always interested in business. After graduating from Morehouse College in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, he spent a year with the Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley before deciding he wanted to work in a more entrepreneurial environment. He received an MBA from Texas Southern University and joined his father in the business.
The younger Luckett has focused on marketing and promotion, educating customers on South African wines. Historically, the country is known for a red grape varietal called Pinotage, but South African winemakers also produce more well-known wines, including chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, Shiraz and pinot noir.
The Western Cape, a South African province is a top wine-producing region, with a Mediterranean climate similar to wine-growing regions in Europe. But South African wines are typically more affordable than that of French and other European wines (Branwar’s wines are priced from $8 to $51 per bottle wholesale.).
“If you look at the exchange rate, it’s like 15 to 1,” Luckett says. “That’s the kind of bargain you get when you purchase the product and then you pass that savings onto the customer.”
Passion and belief
South African wines make up “well less than” 1 percent of all the wine sold in the United States, said Jon Moramarco, a wine analyst and managing partner of advisory firm bw166 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Operating in such a niche category requires real belief in the wine and passion to present and sell it, Moramarco said. But because South African wines represent such a small segment of the market, a lot of restaurants want to offer some South African vintages to set their wine lists apart.
What also sets Branwar apart, Moramarco added, is that it is among the few Black-owned wine distributors. Branwar became a minority wine vendor for the city of Houston in 2017, and it supplies wines to Levy Restaurants, which provides food services to public venues.
“Because of the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Moramarco said, “a lot of people want to do business with Black-owned businesses or Black-produced products. So, I’d say at this point in time, that’s actually a great opportunity for them.”
Kevin Jackson, manager and sommelier of Davis Street at Hermann Park, has bought wines from Branwar since 2019 when the restaurant opened. He said the company is knowledgeable about their wines and offers competitive prices. In addition, while larger distributors require customers to buy a certain number of cases, Branwar will sell just one case if that’s what the customer needs.
“As a small business,” Jackson said, “it’s important we have that flexibility.”
Wayne Luckett also provides an unmatched level of service, Jackson said — “available pretty much around the clock.”
Vernita Harris, a former chair of the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce, agreed. She has known Wayne Luckett and bought his wines for years. Around Christmas, she ordered 15 bottles from a liquor store Branwar supplies, but the store didn’t have it all in stock.
“Wayne personally delivered the wine,” she said.
Rebuilding mode
Branwar is still rebuilding from the pandemic-driven recession, which claimed about a quarter of its customers and cut its peak sales volume by more than half, to about 1,000 cases a year. It also is contending with other challenges as it works to get back on its growth track.
Millennials, the nation’s largest demographic cohort, don’t drink as much wine as their baby boomer parents, according to a 2022 report on the U.S. wine industry. They prefer spirits, craft beers and ready-to-drink cocktails — and that trend is likely to continue unless the industry changes the way it markets to younger customers, says Rob McMillan, the report’s author and founder of Silicon Valley Bank.
Wine sales, McMillan said, could fall as much as 20 percent over the next decade.
Warren Luckett, himself a millennial, has turned his marketing efforts toward his age cohort. He’s hosted wine tasting events with local artists or clothiers to help make wine more accessible to younger people who may feel intimidated if they’re not familiar with different types of wine. During wine tastings or when talking to customers, Luckett will highlight a wine made with sustainable methods. He enjoys introducing lesser-known varietals to the market.
“We like to call ourselves the grape breakers,” he says. “We like stuff like Pinotage or Chilean Carménère. We pride ourselves on finding the funkier grape varietals and giving them homes in the Texas market.”
Wayne Luckett says he likes to have a good story behind every bottle of wine.
“We find that it really sticks with the consumer,” he said. “Yeah, you can have a glass of Cab or Chardonnay, but when you add a story on who the winemaker is and what type of awards it’s won, it sort of opens up a new appreciation for that glass of wine you’re drinking.”
Isabella Donoso, general manager of Davis Street, was more familiar with liquor than wine when she was introduced to Branwar in 2017 when she was working at downtown Houston restaurant Kulture. She said the Lucketts were always patient and helpful. And they always tell stories and provide details about the wines they are selling, whether it’s about the region where the grapes were grown or the history of the winemakers.
As the Lucketts have expanded their product line beyond South Africa, distributing wines from California, Oregon, Italy and several South American countries. They’ve also set their sights on moving into new markets. In 2019, they expanded into Atlanta, where Warren Luckett now lives.
“At some point,” Wayne Luckett says, “we’d like to have distribution in all four corners of the us: north, south, east and west.”
