Attending the first ever Laithwaites Suppliers Conference.
Why did we never do this before? Probably my fault. (Again). Because I have been buying wine long enough to remember many doors being closed to me. So I would never have believed all these important wine people would travel from all around the world - Australia, Chile! - to London just to hear me burble on. Gobsmacked. Really.
Mind you its far from being just me, and they are not just listening. They are speaking plenty. We are all learning here. There is the sense of a team forming. All to do with 'long term'.
Some producers here have dealt with us since the Seventies. That's encouraging the newer ones. Being a family firm also means we take the long view. Wine is not an 'instant' sale thing. It takes years to build up understandings and trust and affection between Producer and Consumer....with Laithwaites in the middle, trying not to get in the way.
I think, I hope, we are getting better at communicating.
The customers and now, the wine producers will let us know if we are.
The producers like our new List format a lot.
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