Cantina di Soave becomes “Cadis 1898”, putting its four identities first and foremost

Cantina di Soave is a landmark in the panorama of Italian Cooperative wine, and has been growing exponentially over the past few years. It has brought various companies in the Veneto region together, and now counts more than 2.000 members, and 6.500 hectares of vineyards divided in four different denominations: Soave, Valpolicella, Durello and Bardolino. This diversity brought about the strategic reorganization of Cantina di Soave. In order to convey greater clarity and give visibility to each company production site, as well as to strengthen all the denominations in the portfolio, it decided to change its name to CADIS 1898. “Cantina di Soave boasts 125 years of history, and for almost a century it was totally autonomous”, Wolfgang Raifer, General Manager of Cantina di Soave, told WineNews.
In 1996, it started to incorporate other social wineries, and took on the name Cantina di Soave. “The first one we incorporated was Cantina di Cazzano, and then Cantina di Illasi in 2005, followed by Cantina di Montecchia, in 2008, and finally, Terre al Lago. Therefore, the new denominations that have joined and enriched the portfolio of Cantina di Soave wines are: Valpolicella, Lessini Durello, Custoza and Bardolino. There are many wines and many different territories under the name of a precise denomination, Soave. However, in the long run it had proven to limit communication and promotion of the product to the consumer”, Raifer continued.
Cadis 1898 is the new approach and “we have found a way to give the right space to our various productions: Cantina di Soave, Cantina di Illasi (Valpolicella, Amarone and Recioto), Cantina di Montecchia (Lessini Durello) and Terre al Lago (Custoza, Bardolino and Garda), each specialized in its own denomination. We have undertaken this strategy, which we began on the mass retail channel last summer, to make the most of the different denominations, that are still under the same umbrella, but each winery has the name of its territory. Management, instead, will not undergo any changes”.
Social responsibility is a deeply felt subject, “both towards our members and towards the players in denominations where we are present. In the immediate future, this translates into the excellent profitability that we guarantee our members (in 2022 it was 10.300 euros per hectare, and 66.5 million euros, total sale of grapes, ed.). The real challenge, though, is knowing how to guarantee economic and social sustainability year after year, because we always start afresh, building on what we have done previously, but aiming to improve, even in such a complicated phase for the markets”, the General Manager of Cantina di Soave concluded. However, it has started from excellent foundations, since the 2022 financial statements closed boasting a turnover of 143.8 million euros (+16% compared to 2021), composed of 66% on the domestic market and 34% abroad. And, all of this in spite of the 6% drop in volumes produced.