While the direct-import business is growing, Pates says that “we will always need our national importer partners” and adds that “our direct importing was created to be a complementary piece of the puzzle, both in selection and logistics.” Currently, 80 percent of the imported wines in Cream’s portfolio come from national importers who are seeking to enter the Chicago market. , Zev Rovine Selections, Rosenthal Wine Merchant, and Ole Imports, and it began importing directly in 2008, with the goal of enhancing its overall portfolio of estates with select growers from Italy, France, and Spain. Says Pates, “Having a stable of new countries, brands, and categories-like Spain and South America-that overdelivered in terms of price set us up well for the 2008 economic crash.”Ĭream distributes the products of its import partners, including Rare Wine Co. Through the aughts, Cream acquired classic wine brands, as well as modern and experimental labels. The company expanded slowly but steadily, adding estates from Australia, New Zealand, South America, and Portugal over the years, along with established domestic labels. Cream’s early portfolio comprised small, family-owned wine producers in the Pacific Northwest and California. But as the company grew, Pates led sales while Payne specialized in finance and operations. In the early days, Pates and Payne both focused on sales. Today, the company represents 390 suppliers, 24 of which are spirits, 16 of which are sake, and 53 of which are imported directly. Since then, Cream has grown steadily, reporting sales growth of 15 percent to 20 percent per year. The economic crash in 2008 prompted the company to add spirits as a complementary revenue source. Pates and Payne spent the next five years slowly developing their portfolio, which when they became independent was made up of about 30 suppliers with 150 wines. By 2003, Pates and Payne had become Cream’s owners. The company was initially backed financially by Terlato Wine Group, but both Styck and Terlato soon exited. He tapped Pates, a former colleague, in 2001. The concept for Cream-a small, urban, restaurant-focused distribution company carrying cutting-edge winemakers-originated with Dennis Styck, a sales executive at the Mid-America Wine Company, based in Des Plaines, Illinois, which later became Vintage Wines. “A majority of our relationships are with restaurants and fine-wine stores,” Pates says, acknowledging that “big box and chain grocery is not necessarily our strength.” Starting Out Small Pates, a founding partner in Cream and its director of sales and marketing, and Payne, a current partner and the company’s director of operations, sell primarily to restaurants and wine shops that share their passion for quality over quantity. The company operates selectively in Illinois, bringing to market an eclectic collection of wines, spirits, and sake. “We want them to be sustainable in every sense.” The Chicago-based importer and distributor is devoted entirely to organic and biodynamic producers who focus on quality without making “pricing, marketing, or environmental concessions for the sake of obligatory growth,” Pates says. When Andy Pates and Mark Payne came together at Cream Wine Company, they never tried to be all things to all people. There’s a certain freedom that comes with limitations.
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