Maite Soria

Marketing and Direct Sales Manager
Bodegas Olarra

_

“In Olarra we are sure about where we come from and where we are going”

Behind a bottle of wine there is a careful traditional work of conservation and treatment of the vineyards, grape harvesting and elaboration and commercialization of the product. But there is also a great process of transformation and adaptation to the digital era, continuous research and the proposal of innovative initiatives to improve the customer experience.

Bodegas Olarra is committed to the design of a strategy that advocates the issues of the present with a future perspective. “We are a family winery, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. The way we work has changed from the beginning, especially thanks to the modernization of the winemaking methods and information systems from the vineyard to the distribution of the wines” explains Maite Soria, head of Marketing and Direct Sales of the winery.

Digitalization has marked a turning point in the sector, opening up new scenarios and creating a multitude of new possibilities. Without losing sight of the land, the winemaking heritage and sustainable development, Bodegas Olarra believes in naturalness around wine and works to make a quiet evolution that maintains the “pioneering and innovative” spirit they received from previous generations. “We are very clear about where we come from and where we are going. We make wine for people and we think of them when we make it”, he emphasizes.

In a context of complexity and variability, the implementation of digital advances has played a leading role in the improvement strategy of the wine sector. Bodegas Olarra has joined this transformation, through a moderate process, incorporating into its daily operations those advances that have been needed at each moment. “From the beginning we have been using programs to help business management, but it was not until 2000, with the turn of the century, when we developed our own digital management environment”.

From vineyard management with real-time information on the situation of the vineyard to winemaking with the help of pioneering technology, through marketing or warehouse management, Bodegas Olarra is advancing towards the new present day. “Digitalization has crept into every area of our winery’s life to help us to do our work better”, says Soria. “We believe in advances as a tool for improvement, so they have always been implemented when necessary and in a very personalized way. This has meant that the changes have been well received and used”, he concludes.

“We make wine for people and we think of them when we elaborate it”.

But how can you guarantee that your products do not lose their philosophy and character? For the head of the Marketing and Direct Sales department at Bodegas Olarra, “digital advances only help and improve any process, they do not replace”. “It is the information that digitalization gives you that allows you to make better decisions, save time and money and optimize available resources, reflected in our wines”, assures Soria.

But digital changes have not only affected winemaking processes, it has also changed the customer experience. “From online purchasing to booking visits, for example, are processes that today cannot be conceived without the immediacy that customers seek in their relationships with companies. Despite this, we continue to maintain that line of direct contact with them so that they know we are available”, he explains.

This new way of working has allowed us to establish collaborations and synergies with other wineries and technology companies. “We work with companies in the sector that we trust and help us take the necessary steps to move forward. Progress is shared and democratized. In the wineries we are beginning to be aware that together we add up to much more”.

For Bodegas Olarra, digitalization is nothing more than better and more abundant information, more efficient processes and, in short, better decision making, perfecting any area in which it is applied.