Nothing jingoistic here, just one small business lending their expertise in online sales and distribution to their competitors.

Special Report: COVID-19 Adelaide

“As the concept of ‘business as usual’ started to collapse last week, it felt comforting to see community coming together in our industry,” says managing director of Alpha Box & Dice, Dylan Fairweather.

It was only a few short months ago – in mid January this year – CityMag visited Dylan and his team at their city warehouse to get an update on their huge growth curve, continued product development and launch in the US market.

We thought the warehouse was full then, but it’s absolutely rammed today.

Everything has changed as a result of COVID-19, however AB&D is better prepared than most wineries in this state to pivot into an online-only business model as the ability to sell wine to restaurants and bars across the country and around the world ended this week.

“The more we innovate, adapt and ride this wave together, the better chance we will have at making it to the other end all intact,” says Dylan as we walk to get a take-away-only cup of coffee from Elementary (keeping a healthy distance from one another).

Alpha Box & Friends is an initiative Dylan has been thinking of doing, “for ages” that got fast-tracked last week.

“The concept is quite simple,” says Dylan. “We don’t just drink our own wine you know? There are so many South Australian wines we love and this concept is about working with those people in our industry that we like and admire – people we want to support and people who’s wine we buy ourselves – and working with them to get their wine out there, online, with ours.

“We just want to share the love,” says Dylan.

“Like many of our peers, we only sell to independent retailers, so it can sometimes be difficult to find great, independent SA wine brands outside of their own channels.

“We have spent years investing in digital – we have one of the most capable eCommerce heads in the state working with us, and I know that not everyone in the wine industry is set up like us.

“We always wanted to share our passion for SA wines with our customers, coronavirus just sped that process up – a lot,” says Dylan.

During its launch phase, every Alpha Box & Friends partner will be based in South Australia.

The first collaboration is with Clare Valley winery, Koerner and there will be four Alpha Box & Dice X Koerner packs available.

“For the time being, supporting local businesses is the top priority. We want to be able to send out some great South Australian products locally and nationally to make sure the industry in SA has the best chance of survival,” says Dylan.

alphaboxdice.com