Munificent Wines is a Melbourne-based social enterprise started by the owners of Victorian wine distributor Pail & Cooper. When they started Pail & Cooper in 2017, founders Chris Maddison and Owain Southwell both knew that down the track they wanted to use their business success to “give back” in some way.
After achieving stability and success with Pail & Cooper, Chris and Owain realised there was an opportunity to create their own wine brand and social enterprise in one. Munificent Wines is that venture. We’re a social enterprise with a dual purpose – to produce affordable, unpretentious fruit-forward wine for socially-conscious consumers, and to donate 50% of our pre-tax gross profit to our charitable partner SisterWorks Inc.
A munificent gesture is a show of generosity so great that it surpasses expectations. More than a token of appreciation, a munificent gesture is a mark of respect, admiration or compassion.
All our wines have been crafted with munificence in mind, and we like to think they embody the values of our social enterprise and the spirit of our name. They deliver fruit-driven generosity to the drinker while lending financial support to the life-changing work of SisterWorks.
The measure of success for Munificent Wines is purely in the size of our annual donation. Our donation goal for our first year of business was $25,000, and we ended up donating over $33,000. In our second year we’re hoping to donate $50,000, and our five-year goal is $100,000 or more in donations each year. Munificent Wines’ operating costs are covered 100% by Pail & Cooper, meaning we can donate even more of our gross profits to SisterWorks.
SisterWorks is a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Melbourne. Through work and entrepreneurship, SisterWorks’ mission is to support women who are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants to improve their confidence, mental well-being, sense of belonging and economic outlook.
The SisterWorks vision is an Australia where all migrant women are given the opportunities to become economically empowered. To date, SisterWorks have supported more than 800 women from 56 different countries and are now sharing their model with other regions in Victoria in order to increase the number of migrant and refugee women empowered to access opportunities in the workforce.
We’re big believers in supporting local small businesses, which is why Munificent Wines are exclusively available through independent bottle shops, artisan wine shops, bars and restaurants across Victoria. If your local bottle shop or bar doesn’t stock our wines yet, ask if they can get them in.
Social enterprises are businesses that trade to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training, or help the environment.
There are currently more than 3,500 social enterprises trading across Victoria employing an estimated 60,000 people and contributing $5.2 billion to the Victorian economy.
The Victorian Government defines social enterprise as organisations that:
Source: Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector Report 2016
One of our focuses at Munificent Wines is supporting local businesses, which is why you’ll only find our wines in independent bottle shops, bars and restaurants across Victoria. With this in mind, supporting a small local charity made sense for us, and also meant that our contribution would have a bigger impact.
The SisterWorks ethos is in perfect alignment with our own personal values and their tagline #WorkEmpowersWomen is something we truly believe in. Living somewhere like Melbourne where the migrant community contribute so much to the character of the city, we’re proud to be able to do our bit to help provide women who are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants with meaningful opportunities to develop pathways of education, employment, entrepreneurship and leadership.
As a social enterprise, we have made a commitment to donate 50% of pre-tax gross profits each year to the SisterWorks charity. We had the target of donating $25,000 in our first year and ended up donating over $33,000. In our next year, we’re looking to donate $50,000, and in five years’ time, we hope to be donating over $100,000 per year.
Munificent Wines’ operating costs are covered 100% by Pail & Cooper, which means we can donate even more to our charitable partner.
Have you ever been given a gift so generous that you were stunned? An offering that was more than a token of appreciation? One that surpassed expectations so much that you recognised it as a mark of respect, admiration or compassion? What you experienced was not just a gift, but a munificent gesture. We thought it a fitting name for our social enterprise and seek to spread the spirit of generosity through our wines and through our charitable donations to SisterWorks.
We hand-select only the best grapes for our Prosecco and Pinot Grigio from the premium cool-climate region of King Valley. To create our generous fruit-forward style of Shiraz, we blend grapes from regions across South Eastern Australia, including the Barossa and McLaren Vale. And our Pinot Noir is selected from the finest grapes in Victoria, so keeping it local.
We’re big believers in supporting local small businesses, which is why Munificent Wines are exclusively available through independent bottle shops, bars and restaurants across Victoria. If your local bottle shop or bar doesn’t stock our wines yet, ask if they can get them in.