Juvinum: weathering the storm

Juvinum, based in Stockholm, is a family-run business that Carl-Viggo Östlund and his wife Caroline acquired from her parents. The business is active in the wholesale of cooking wines, with clientele mainly in the Nordics and the UK. The company was severely hit during the pandemic but thanks to a loan guaranteed by EIF it was able to get back on its feet.

Cooking wine

The cooking wine, from Extremadura, Spain, is produced by lowering the alcohol volume in a full-strength wine, in a way that still keeps all the aromas, with the addition of a bit of salt and pepper. A process that makes it a high-quality cooking product or condiment rather than a wine, which carries a much higher taxation. “This means huge savings for the HORECA sector (hotels, restaurants and catering)”, he adds, describing the niche area in which they operate.

The pandemic halt

“To put it mildly, it was a disaster,” says Carl-Viggo, “sales went down to almost zero for about 4-5 months, picked up a bit in the summer and then stopped again completely for 4-5 months. 2020 sales were less than half of a normal year, and 2021 was only marginally better.”

The COVID-19 pandemic did the business no favours, as the HORECA industry - especially in the UK – was severely hit. “Normally we’d ship around 130 containers per year, but in 2020 we shipped only 58.” Today, partly as a COVID-19 effect, they are also experiencing great transport disruptions such as problems with finding containers, trucks, a lot of delays but also extra surcharges for various things and much higher transport costs in general.

There’s always something. This is part of doing business. But we are still here. ”

- Caroline Östlund

Weathering the storm

Even in the eye of the storm, Caroline and Carl-Viggo were clear that they didn’t want to lay off their two employees in the UK.

They tried to adjust by keeping costs low and re-negotiating payment terms with suppliers and sought financial support in the form of a loan through DBT, guaranteed by the EIF under the pan-European Guarantee Fund. The loan gave the business the necessary cashflow to keep making their payments and make it to better days. “We’re now back to pre-pandemic levels. But we’re aware that things could turn at any moment. There’s always something. This is part of doing business. But we are still here,” Caroline says.