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 its clientele mainly in the Nordics and the UK. The company was severely hit during the covid-19 pandemic but thanks to a loan guaranteed by the EIF it was able to get back on its feet.

Cooking wine

Cooking wine 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, the process results in a high-quality cooking product or condiment, which benefits from lower excise duty than normal wine. This means huge savings for the HORECA sector (hotels, restaurants and catering). Juvinum produces its cooking wine in Extremadura, Spain.

The pandemic halt

The pandemic severely hit businesses across Europe, and the HORECA industry was no exception. Prior to this period, Juvinum would ship around 130 containers of cooking wine per year, but in 2020 it shipped only 58. “To put it mildly, the pandemic period was a disaster for us”, says Carl-Viggo, adding that “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.”

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

- Caroline Östlund

Weathering the storm

Even during the most difficult times, Caroline and Carl-Viggo were clear that they didn’t want to lay off the Juvinum's two employees in the UK.

They tried to adjust by keeping costs low and re-negotiating payment terms with suppliers and sought financial support. This came in the form of a loan guaranteed by the EIF under the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF) through our financial intermery DBT in Sweden.

The loan gave the business the necessary cashflow to keep afloat, manage payment obligations, and eventually, make it to better days. Juvinum is now back to pre-pandemic levels, and their story is an inspiration of resilience - with the right financial support.