EU Retail Client: Building Resilient Value Chains Through System Alignment

How a client-led quality requirement triggered shared investment — and how the right partners chose to strengthen the system.

Why It Matters

Late-vintage quality pressure exposes whether a value chain is resilient — or merely coping.

When technical limits, commercial pressure, and timing collide, many systems quietly compromise.
This case shows what happens when partners treat quality ambition as a structural issue — not a negotiation.

Context

An EU retail client introduced a stricter internal quality requirement for a high-volume South African program.

This was not regulatory.
It was driven by observed quality decline toward the end of vintage.

The issue was oxygen management.

Existing cooling systems were not cold enough for long enough to allow oxygen to be fully absorbed into the wine before bottling.
Early volumes met the standard. Late-vintage volumes increasingly struggled.

The Pressure Point

The requirement introduced immediate risk:

• late-vintage quality non-compliance
• potential launch delays
• pressure to relax standards or shift cost

Instead of compensating quietly, partners paused to ask:

“If this program matters long term, what strengthens the system — not just this season?”

Why the Partners Chose to Invest

The partners involved were the right partners for the opportunity.

The program aligned with their brand positioning, business direction, and long-term plans — and represented a meaningful share of annual volume.
Power dynamics were balanced, and senior commercial, technical, and operational decision-makers were engaged.

Because the opportunity mattered, investment became the rational choice.

How Alignment Was Built

• Transparent mapping of oxygen risk across production
• Joint evaluation of cooling capacity limitations
• Clear articulation of client quality ambition and future intent
• Open discussion of cost, timing, and return
• Client assurance of future volume upon resolution

The Investment

Cooling systems were upgraded to ensure wine remained cold long enough for proper oxygen absorption — even late in vintage.

Investment was shared:

• Private-label producer: ~50%, recovered through structured bottling discounts
• Bottling partner: ~50%, strengthening capability across future programs

Outcome

• Quality standards met consistently across the full vintage
• No launch delays
• Structural risk removed
• Stronger bottling capability
• Increased client trust
• A more resilient value chain

Sans Silos Insight

When the right partners care about the future of the opportunity, systems improve — not just outcomes.