As CellarDine reaches its 25th anniversary, managing director, Peter Dunne, has reflected on the journey so far.
“I can’t quite believe it’s been 25 years today that we set up CellarDine, what an amazing journey – it’s been full of ups and downs, not to mention the huge support of my amazing family, customers and supplier partners.
“I remember standing at the NEC all those years ago with our first product; the patented Therm au Rouge red wine sleeve, as a start-up business with no brand, distribution or customers. It was certainly a learning curve and if I’m honest, despite my prior retail experience, manufacturing was a completely different kettle of fish and I had so much to learn. For sure I made mistakes, but looking back I have learnt so much and will always be forever grateful to those patient people who took time out to help me on this journey.
“Investing in new innovation, tooling, patents and trademarks is never straight forward and I’ve always believed in an approach to work with our customers to generate a higher rate of sell through whether this be in-store or online. Creating unique products that can make a difference takes patience, time and quite a lot of cash, some of these I did not possess.
“In short, I have always felt very passionate about creating something unique and original and over the past 25 years, I believe we have produced a strong story of products that offer innovation, value for money and good quality which have received some superb press all over the world and are distributed by some major customers UK and export. I am genuinely thrilled that we have made progress with still so much to do.
“I thoroughly enjoy working within the industry and the ‘meet the maker’ demonstrations over the past 25 years have become even more popular. The feedback from stores such as The Morley Group, Kitchen Whisk, Fenwick, John Lewis, Potters, Harrods, Selfridges, Boundary Mills to name but a few, has been immensely positive and I am so grateful to be offered the opportunity to participate at the events – thank you.
“Lastly, like so many family owned businesses, none of this would be possible without the incredible support of family members, particularly my wife, who has just been simply amazing – a huge thank you.
“Managing CellarDine for the last 25 years has put me in touch with so many fantastic and talented people, who from time to time have asked me to participate in specific projects outside of the business. These opportunities I have really enjoyed and as I contemplate the next 25 years I sincerely hope that this aspect of my role will continue to evolve.
“Looking forward to meeting up with friends and colleagues at the forthcoming trade shows to express my personal thanks once again, I wish everyone an amazing year, good health and prosperity (sorry for the long post). All the best, Peter.”
