THE
IMPORTERS
Gosling Brothers
24
An organisation which has managed
to find a superb blend between tradition
and a modern and efficient business op
eration: that's Gosling Brothers. From
the big warehouse in Dundonald Street
in the capital Hamilton, large quantities
of spirits, wines and, above all, beers
(Amstel and Amstel Light) are sold. The
business is run by the Gosling family
under President and C.E.O. Douglas
Blunden, who is also closely connected
to the family. Seven Goslings are rep
resented in the management. Charles
Gosling is marketing manager of Gosl
ing Brothers. 'The fact that we form a
close-knit family certainly has its ad
vantages, both for the running of the
business and for our customers. If a cus
tomer ever has problem with a delivery
of products, he can pick up the 'phone
and get one of the Goslings on the line.
We have divided up the management
responsiblities between us, but each one
knows what the others are doing and
can help the customer out straight
away.' Internally, too, the close family
links offer great advantages. You can
solve problems more easily if they can
be discussed in the family. You can talk
openly, with no hard feelings, and so be
more effective in finding solutions.
Service
Gosling Brothers had 82 full-time
and 12 part-time employees last year.
Employees who play an active role in
providing service to the customer, for
service is regarded by Gosling Brothers
as an important instrument for business
success. Charles Gosling can see the im
portance of service to the customers
growing further in the near future. 'The
alcohol market on Bermuda has
stabilised. Growth has stopped, so we
will now have to focus more than ever
on the customer and on his wishes, for
instance with regard to distribution.'
Proudly Charles reports that Gosling
Brothers currently sends trucks out on
the road twice a day from Mondays to
The main Gosling Brothers store in the capital Hamilton.
Fridays to ensure prompt deliveries. In
addition, a delivery round is made once
every Saturday (and twice in cases of
need). Gosling's distribution organisa
tion is so advanced that the customer
can expect to receive his delivery by
about noon if he has phoned through
his order before 9.30 a.m. that same day.
Since Gosling Brothers sells not
only Amstel but also some nine hundred
different wines and almost one hundred
brands of spirits, a good distribution
system is crucial. An order placed by a
bar, restaurant or hotel often involves
a substantial batch of several cartons
of wine, several cases of spirits and
many cases of Amstel and Amstel Light.
The turnover rate for wine and
spirits is not as fast as that of beer.
Which is why these products are kept
strictly separate by Gosling Brothers
during order processing. Gosling's
warehouse has three floors. The top
most is reserved for the spirits, whilst
the cellar is (obviously) for the wines.
The ground floor is kept clear for re
ceipt of the imported products, for mak
ing up the orders and for beer storage.
Early in the morning the employees of
Gosling's start putting the orders to
gether. 'We aim to get the trucks en
route for the first round by about 10
a.m. On average we load ten to fifteen
orders on each truck and start the route
at the nearest customer. Naturally we
make allowance for special wishes; the
customer takes pride of place. From a
distribution point of view we may not
perhaps always be working with op
timum efficiency, but we gotta keep the
customer satisfied', says Bill Booth, dis
tribution manager of Gosling Brothers.
'The company has a great name in the
customer's eyes. Just because we em
phasise the service. It's a good opera
tion.'
The average stock of Amstel stored
at Gosling Brothers is enough for one
and a half months. 'With sales of three
to four thousand cases a week, you cer
tainly need that stock. Besides, the de
livery times of Amstel beer from Holland
may fluctuate. Sometimes it takes eight
weeks from ordering before we get the
beer here and sometimes, if everything
fits together with the production
facilities in Holland, we receive the beer
as quickly as four weeks after sending
in the order', says Charles Gosling.
Advertising and
sponsoring
lb bring the Amstel brand to the con
sumer's attention, Gosling Brothers
does a lot in the way of advertising and
sponsoring. The Amstel importer almost
always uses the local radio station for
its advertising messages. 'For a sixty-
second radio commercial they only
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