How Barcelona Brands has disrupted and premiumised Cava

If you are a new start up wine business looking for a category to make your name in, then Cava would probably not be top of your list. A deeply traditional style of winemaking dominated by super power wine producers who pretty much dictate how the whole Cava market operates. But two Belgium wine entrepreneurs, Christopher Heirwegh and Christel Weemaes, saw it as the ideal style to offer something new. The chance to create a range of premium organic, vegan Cava wine brands that appeal directly to younger non-Cava drinkers untouched by the persuasive powers of the big Cava players. That was in 2014 and fast forward 12 years and their Barcelona Brands business can now claim to have a range of Cava brands that, it claims, are out performing the category’s big guns in some markets. Here Heirwegh sits down with Richard Siddle to explain how as an “outsider” it has been able to create a successful brand that has disrupted the Cava status quo.