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Title – Britain losing its bottle: health fears drive consumers away from wine
Source – The Independent
Date – 15th June 2009
It would seem that the good times are over… or are they?
When I started in the industry opening a bottle of red in a pub was always accompanied by a sense of doom that the rest of the bottle would ‘turn’ before it was sold… opening a bottle late on a Sunday night was a no-no.
Fortunately the world moved on and Britain moved along with it; before long Britain was not so much ‘moving along with it’ as ‘driving it’ and the veritable explosion in the UK wine market and the diversity of that market is one of the great growth stories in the Licensed Retail Sector over the last twenty years. We even went through a stage in the nineties of going a little too far with ‘wine bars’ popping up in the most unlikely locations; the twenty first century versions tend to be a little more balanced than their forbearers.
So where am I going with all of this? Well the fact is that we may now be seeing a decline in growth of wine or even a contraction. The role of duty and vat are certainly playing their part in this contraction as is the worst economic climate any of us have ever experienced; but doom and gloom it is certainly not, we are still very much riding the crest of the wave.
The key now is that wine drinkers are more demanding than ever and retailers have to keep up and provide exactly what customers demand. Those who became complacent and opted for the best deal from the suppliers under the assumption that grape variety was all the choice they had to provide have to think again; they have to think seriously what their customers demand today and what they will demand next month; what suits their environment and other offerings such as food served; what suits the time of year; and what suits the demographic they serve.
Consumers will continue to be split between those who ‘know’ about wine and demand a very specific product (and will pay the cost) and those who are intimidated by such ‘knowledge’ and who need subtle guidance (and who are very price sensitive). Trends will become increasingly important, the explosion of rose is an excellent demonstration of this and retailers need to pick up early on these trends.
The wine market may have plateaued, but at £9.6bn there is still plenty of scope for retailers to profit from this very significant market.
For the on-trade there is likely also to be further regulation to incorporate into their business strategy. The prospect of compulsory 125ml servings being available in all premises licensed for consumption on the premises and restrictions on free wine (in many forms including; promotions, wine tasting etc.) is a real possibility as early as the end of 2009. Some businesses will need to make adjustments to their approach to marketing to incorporate such changes should they occur.
At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help our clients sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence. Our Consultancy Service helps alcohol retailers meet statutory regulations and industry guidelines and standards to help businesses improve and prosper.
Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
Source – The Independent
Date – 15th June 2009
It would seem that the good times are over… or are they?
When I started in the industry opening a bottle of red in a pub was always accompanied by a sense of doom that the rest of the bottle would ‘turn’ before it was sold… opening a bottle late on a Sunday night was a no-no.
Fortunately the world moved on and Britain moved along with it; before long Britain was not so much ‘moving along with it’ as ‘driving it’ and the veritable explosion in the UK wine market and the diversity of that market is one of the great growth stories in the Licensed Retail Sector over the last twenty years. We even went through a stage in the nineties of going a little too far with ‘wine bars’ popping up in the most unlikely locations; the twenty first century versions tend to be a little more balanced than their forbearers.
So where am I going with all of this? Well the fact is that we may now be seeing a decline in growth of wine or even a contraction. The role of duty and vat are certainly playing their part in this contraction as is the worst economic climate any of us have ever experienced; but doom and gloom it is certainly not, we are still very much riding the crest of the wave.
The key now is that wine drinkers are more demanding than ever and retailers have to keep up and provide exactly what customers demand. Those who became complacent and opted for the best deal from the suppliers under the assumption that grape variety was all the choice they had to provide have to think again; they have to think seriously what their customers demand today and what they will demand next month; what suits their environment and other offerings such as food served; what suits the time of year; and what suits the demographic they serve.
Consumers will continue to be split between those who ‘know’ about wine and demand a very specific product (and will pay the cost) and those who are intimidated by such ‘knowledge’ and who need subtle guidance (and who are very price sensitive). Trends will become increasingly important, the explosion of rose is an excellent demonstration of this and retailers need to pick up early on these trends.
The wine market may have plateaued, but at £9.6bn there is still plenty of scope for retailers to profit from this very significant market.
For the on-trade there is likely also to be further regulation to incorporate into their business strategy. The prospect of compulsory 125ml servings being available in all premises licensed for consumption on the premises and restrictions on free wine (in many forms including; promotions, wine tasting etc.) is a real possibility as early as the end of 2009. Some businesses will need to make adjustments to their approach to marketing to incorporate such changes should they occur.
At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help our clients sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence. Our Consultancy Service helps alcohol retailers meet statutory regulations and industry guidelines and standards to help businesses improve and prosper.
Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.
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