Merging two industry giants to create the UK’s largest drinks distributor

ENOTRIA&COE

Brand Identity / Guidelines / Naming / Rebranding / Verbal Identity

When Enotria – esteemed for their deep-rooted knowledge of Italian and global wines – merged with Coe Vintners – a respected specialist in spirits – the drinks industry took immediate notice. Both companies brought with them extensive portfolios, strong leadership, and decades of brand equity. Under the guidance of BlueGem Capital, they set out to form a single powerhouse – one that would raise the bar for distribution across the UK’s on-trade and off-trade sectors.

Spinach Branding were charged with ensuring the merger preserved each company’s heritage while crystallising a fresh sense of purpose – ultimately delivering a unified identity that would resonate with both the market and internal teams.

Enotria had originally focused on importing top-quality Italian wines before expanding internationally, while Coe Vintners had earned a strong reputation for their robust spirits portfolio and exceptional customer service. Each name carried substantial weight among trade professionals and consumers alike. Merging them offered the opportunity to deliver a truly comprehensive drinks portfolio – but also carried the risk of diluting two trusted brands. The leadership’s vision for an industry-leading “one-stop shop” needed to be balanced with respect for brand loyalty – raising essential questions about how to preserve heritage, unify distinct leadership cultures, and present a confident new face to a competitive market.

Spinach Branding began by delving deep into the inner workings of both organisations, carrying out interviews, surveys and exploratory workshops with staff and stakeholders. This process revealed the aspirations and points of tension that often accompany major mergers. By pinpointing what truly mattered to each legacy business – from Coe’s longstanding relationships in the spirits world to Enotria’s authority in wine – Spinach Branding could map out a way to merge complementary strengths without undermining established equities.

Stakeholder workshops formed a cornerstone of this discovery phase. During these creative sessions, participants brought symbolic objects or images to represent their aspirations for the new brand. One stakeholder chose a Swiss Army knife, evoking themes of precision, utility and design excellence, while another arrived with an image of a warrior astride a Tyrannosaurus rex – a vivid metaphor for shaking up the industry with fearless energy. These divergent inspirations sparked conversations that helped leadership realise they wanted a brand that balanced reliability and practicality with a bold, energetic approach.

Using these insights, Spinach Branding developed a clear brand platform encompassing purpose, vision, values and competitive positioning. This platform expressed both the ambition to innovate and the commitment to excellence that had earned Enotria Wines and Coe Vintners their enviable reputations.

One of the earliest strategic debates revolved around naming. Discarding either “Enotria Wines” or “Coe Vintners” risked alienating existing customers and losing valuable brand equity. At the same time, leadership wanted to convey that this merger represented a true evolution rather than a superficial alignment. Spinach Branding counselled merging the two well-recognised names into “Enotria&Coe”, a decision that would honour both heritages while signalling a new chapter for the combined business. This approach preserved the trust and goodwill each brand had earned over decades of trading, and it also underscored the unification of wine and spirits expertise under one roof.

Crafting a Strong Visual Identity

Drawing on the cultural and emotional cues uncovered in stakeholder workshops, Spinach Branding shaped a visual identity that reflects the companies’ dual heritage and newfound vitality. Energetic photography paired with a bold colour palette captures the spirit of change and momentum underpinning this new venture. A simple, pared-back sans serif typeface introduces a modern sensibility — a clean foil to the weight of the companies’ shared histories.

The result is an identity that radiates edge and energy, while still conveying the quality, reliability, and practicality demanded by industry professionals.

Beyond refining the visual identity, Spinach Branding recognised the importance of a clearly defined tone of voice that would embody Enotria&Coe’s combined expertise in wines and spirits. The newly merged company already employed a team of brand and marketing writers who were steeped in industry language and storytelling. To harness their knowledge and win their support, Spinach Branding facilitated a series of tone of voice workshops, walking these in-house specialists through the updated positioning and brand values. By shaping the messaging platform collaboratively, the writers took ownership of the new voice rather than feeling it was imposed on them. As a result, Enotria&Coe now speaks with an authoritative yet approachable style that fully reflects its refreshed identity. And the writers champion it with enthusiasm.

With the identity established, Spinach Branding then oversaw a comprehensive rollout that touched virtually every part of the business. Offices, warehouses and delivery fleets were updated to reflect the new aesthetic, reinforcing a consistent message throughout the internal environment. Digital platforms, including e-commerce channels and social media, were relaunched with vibrant visuals and concise, on-brand messaging. Meanwhile, marketing collateral and advertising materials – from tasting brochures to point-of-sale displays – underwent a total refresh, introducing clients to Enotria&Coe’s unified capabilities in both wine and spirits.

Before debuting the new brand to the public, Spinach Branding recognised that successful adoption required genuine enthusiasm and alignment within the merged organisation. We created a tailored training programme to ensure staff at every level understood and felt invested in the new brand identity. Through workshops and departmental sessions, employees learned how to communicate the brand’s purpose, values and visual cues. By transforming team members into brand ambassadors, Enotria&Coe minimised potential confusion and built excitement from within, ensuring that each customer interaction would reflect the merger’s promise of combined expertise and renewed energy.

To maximise market exposure and generate momentum, Spinach Branding orchestrated a multi-stage launch:

A pre-launch PR campaign teased the imminent reveal, sparking curiosity among industry insiders and prospective clients. The main event took place at east London’s Truman Brewery, where Enotria&Coe treated producers, brand ambassadors and trade partners to a showcase of their expanded portfolio — an experience designed to immerse attendees in the new brand story.

Spinach Branding then sustained the buzz with targeted press coverage, social media content and follow-up communications, ensuring the industry remained focused on how the merger had cultivated a powerful new presence in the UK drinks market.

From a trade perspective, the Enotria Wines and Coe Vintners merger and subsequent rebrand are widely regarded as a triumph. By uniting an expansive wine portfolio with a robust spirits range, the company emerged as a true “one-stop shop” capable of serving restaurants, bars, hotels and retailers across price points and categories. Industry publications such as The Drinks Business and Harpers Wine & Spirit paid close attention, with Enotria&Coe earning award shortlistings and accolades that recognised both the clarity of the new brand and the smooth integration of two legacy businesses.

In the years since the launch, Enotria&Coe have maintained strong partnerships and continued to innovate – expanding their offerings to include emerging producers and adapting to trends like premiumisation, craft spirits and low/no-alcohol segments. Most critically, Enotria&Coe staff continue to stand united around a shared vision and set of values, demonstrating how thoughtful brand strategy can forge enduring alignment in a newly merged entity.

For marketing and branding professionals, the Enotria&Coe story exemplifies how two heritage brands can fuse their strengths without sacrificing the equity each name has painstakingly built. By retaining both identities under a unified banner, aligning stakeholders, crafting a modern yet respectful identity, and meticulously launching the rebrand, Spinach Branding ensured the outcome was not simply a larger company, but a revitalised force in the UK drinks scene.

Today, Enotria&Coe stands as proof that carefully orchestrated mergers — backed by clear brand purpose, an energised visual language, and thorough internal training — can elevate the industry’s expectations of what a distributor can be.

For marketing and branding professionals, the Enotria&Coe story exemplifies how two heritage brands can fuse their strengths without sacrificing the equity each name has painstakingly built. By retaining both identities under a unified banner, focusing on stakeholder alignment, crafting a modern yet respectful identity, and meticulously launching the rebrand, Spinach Branding ensured that the result would not simply be a larger company, but a revitalised force in the UK drinks scene.