New Horizons

Luis Caballero is set to grow 20% due to new alliances and brand acquisitions

International business will push the winery group’s sales over 54 million.

The Luis Caballero Group reached 185 years of age with no loss of either vigor nor ambition. Six generations have taken their turn at the front of the family run business since 1830, when its founder, José Cabaleiro do Lago inaugurated the first winery in Chipiona. His commitment to wine and spirits within the Sherry Triangle derived from the family’s oak (the precious barrel material which nestles the best wines) wood business back in Galicia.

True to this Celtic origin, their star liqueur, Ponche Caballero, leader in sales in Spain, is made from a secret recipe that combines “Queimada” and Cadiz spirits. On their almost two century long journey, the group has grown through acquisitions and alliances with other major industry greats, with their sights on foreign markets from the start. Exports to England and America began in 1870 thanks to the Chipiona-Buenos Aires shipping route.

The company’s strategic plan does not consider easing off the throttle and the next three years will see the acquisition of new brands, collaboration with other national and international firms in the sector, and the launch of both internal and third party products and services. Based on these pillars, Luis Caballero is set to found its future development and grow 20% in the next three years, according to sources within the group.

The company made ??a 1 million euros profit in 2014, with
a turnover of over 54 million euros, a 2% increase over the previous year according to the fiscal year closing advance, pending shareholder ratification. The business upturn has been based on international sales, “which more than compensate the slight contraction of the Spanish market”, sources point out.

Exports account for 54% of the group’s turnover; the United States providing half of the foreign business portion. The UK accounts for another 20%, 5% in Germany, and the remaining 25% is to be shared among 50 other countries, mainly from Central Europe, Scandinavia and Asia. Other relevant destinations where the company is making great investment efforts are the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Japan and China, as well as some countries in Africa.

Luis Caballero is the only winery making wine in all three cities that make the Sherry Triangle: Jerez, El Puerto (where it is based) and Sanlucar. The purchase of four of Domecq’s historic brands: La Ina, Botaina, Viña 25 and Río Viejo (in 2008), is one of the group’s most important milestones. Also noteworthy within the group’s new additions are Emilio Lustau, Rioja’s Viña Herminia, and Cazalla Distilleries, who produce spirits and Miura’s cherry liquor in the Sierras of Seville. One of the most significant recent steps has been the joint-venture with Vega Sicilia and CVNE, to enhance its US presence.