News and insights

Supply chain thinking for wine and spirits operators.

Practical perspectives on forecasting, inventory management, and supply chain coordination in the wine and beverage industry.

Nobody hands back the cash already sitting in your warehouse, above a reference card citing the WSWA SipSource June blog

📅 August 11, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

The Cost of Holding Stock Rises Before Anyone Decides Anything

WSWA asks whether beverage alcohol has found its floor. A stabilising demand trend and a recovered working capital position are not the same thing.

working capital | inventory | depletions | points of distribution | destocking | wine | spirits | distributors | importers

📅 August 3, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

Your OND Build Starts With the Inventory You Already Have

Most Q4 plans in wine start from last year's shipments and a seasonal uplift. In a destocking year, neither input tells you what you need to know.

supply chain | demand planning | inventory | Q4 | OND | destocking | importers | distributors | wine | spirits

Split view of a full container load versus a consolidation depot, illustrating the FCL versus LCL decision

📅 May 25, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

Container Optimization: How Importers Can Cut Freight Costs

Defaulting to full container loads trades a freight cost for an inventory cost. Real container optimization starts with inbound visibility.

freight | container optimization | FCL | LCL | importers | inbound visibility | inventory carrying costs | supply chain

Diagram showing information flowing across supply chain tiers from retailer to distributor to importer before demand arrives

📅 May 12, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

From Reactive to Proactive: The Real Supply Chain Transformation

Distributors aren't reactive from a lack of planning skill, but a lack of information. Closing that gap is the real transformation.

supply chain | visibility | multi-echelon | distributors | importers | proactive planning | demand signal | platform | EDI | API integration

Infographic showing seasonal demand patterns in wine and spirits with supply chain lead times from September to November

📅 April 28, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

Seasonal Demand Planning in Wine & Spirits Starts Too Late

Seasonal demand planning in wine and spirits fails on timing, not accuracy. By the time the signal is visible, the window has closed.

supply chain | demand planning | forecasting | wine | spirits | seasonal | lead time | inventory | importers | distributors

📅 April 7, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

The Coordination Tax

More supply chain partners reduces risk but multiplies complexity. Here's where the coordination costs hide, and why they compound.

supply chain | silos | wine | spirits | inventory | distributors | importers | three-tier system

Supply chain strategy development illustration

📅 March 10, 2026   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

What Gartner's Supply Chain Strategy Research Reveals

Leading supply chain analysts point to visibility, automation and resilience. Here's how those priorities translate to your operation.

industry insights | gartner | supply chain | wine and spirits

Wine and spirits supply chain — Vintaflow

📅 December 5, 2025   ✍️ Jonas De Maere

Learn more about Vintaflow

5 minute read to learn more about Vintaflow. Who it is for and what it does.

general information | vintaflow | wine and spirits