The Italian winery Masi Agricola, a leading producer of Amarone in Valpolicella Classica, announces that it has signed an agreement with Russian Beluga Group to import and distribute its wines to Russia. The agreement covers all the brands of the Masi Group. Sandro Boscaini, President of Masi Agricola, declared: We are very pleased to have reached a real strategic distribution alliance with Beluga Group in a market – Russia – where Masi’s presence is consolidated, but with an extremely interesting development potential. Beluga Group is a top company, which is well placed to provide us with an important support to enhance our premium positioning. Mikhail Kashirin, General Import director of Beluga Group, added: Beluga Group’s strategy leads it to choose a leading company for each wine producing country, around which it consolidates a ‘necklace’ of highly prestigious châteaux: for example, Domaine Barons de Rothschild in France, Cono Sur in South America and Fuastino in Spain. As for Italy, we want to expand our portfolio of wines in terms of quality and wideness, having Masi as the cornerstone of this project. Masi is in fact a brand that deserves to be positioned in the most prestigious locations of the distribution chain.
Beluga: an expanding Group
Beluga Group is a leading producer and importer of spirits in Russia. It is in fact the largest producer of vodka and the most important exporter of superpremium vodka, owning 6 distilleries and its own distribution platform which allows it an extremely wide market coverage with a diversified brand portfolio. Its top of the range is represented by the famous ‘Beluga’ vodka. It is present in the HO.RE.CA. and in the retail channels, and it also owns a chain of about 350 stores (with a significant development plan) under the ‘WineLab’ brand name, specialized in wine. Beluga Group also operates as an exclusive distributor of many international premium brands: in Italy, among others, Amaro Montenegro and Vecchia Romagna. The wideness of the portfolio and the integration of both production and distribution provide Beluga Group with a significant competitive advantage and opportunities for growth. Beluga Group is listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange (the only operator of wine and spirits) and in 2017 it recorded consolidated revenues of approximately 61 billion roubles, equal to over 800 million euros.