When less is more
Wine is a subject often unnecessarily over-complicated by those in the know. Assembling a complete wine offering is far easier than might be expected, especially with the phenomenal growth in single-serve wines.
Wine in 187ml bottles is now talked about as the fastest-growing area for wine sales in pubs across the UK.
In Ireland, which has taken the lead in showing the UK licensed trade how to be successful following implementation of a smoking ban, wines sold in 187ml bottles now represent approximately 80% of all wines sold in pubs and bars, with almost 90% of pubs and bars now stocking them. Wine sales following the ban have grown, while beer and spirit sales have dropped, according to Reads World of Wine chairman Geoff Read.
Reads is the company behind the Minicellar Range, a specialist range of branded, high-quality quarter bottles.
A single-serve size of bottle allows the customer to experiment with new varietals and countries of origin. The Minicellar range features leading wine brands from around the world, including E&J Gallo Sierra Valley, Jacobs Creek, Lindemans, Oxford Landing, Mateus Rosé and Kumala.
By presenting a choice of branded wines in stylish wooden counter-top displays, the Minicellar range offers customers a familiar choice, significantly assisting decisions to buy.
Purchasing wine at a crowded bar can often feel like a daunting experience, especially when customers are confronted by a wine list that features an array of wines whose names sound unusual and unfamiliar.
These wines also make financial sense as, there's no wastage, no corks to pull during busy periods, no remains of opened bottles to throw away and no hidden costs, such as cleaning of pipes for bag-in-box or expensive wine preservation systems. Single-serve wines also present good cash margins and the opportunity to increase sales through existing customers as well as enticing new business into the pub - those who are more likely to stay and eat as opposed to 18 to 24-year-old beer drinkers.
Operations director at Eldridge Pope, Tim Bird, is responsible for an estate with 104 managed pubs and bars. Single-serve wines first caught Tim's eye whilst holidaying in Ireland, where he was impressed by the number of customers buying into the Minicellar idea.
Tim recalls: "Several years ago I was enjoying an Irish holiday when I noticed that almost every licensed outlet I entered offered individual 187ml bottles of wine, served in an unlined glass. I began to observe and investigate further and much to my amazement, even some of the most unlikely establishments served wine in this way, which I found a refreshing approach to encouraging sales.
"We have now been offering single-serve wines in 187ml bottles throughout our estate of HJ Wellfed Pubs, Nostalgic Inns and Que Pasa bars for some years, tailoring the offering in relation to the pub or bar - so our more 'food- orientated' pubs will serve a choice of four red, four white, two rosé and a Cava, for example.
"Introduction of these wines has resulted in a 35% rise in glass sales and assisted in attracting new consumers into our pubs and bars, making them more 'female friendly' in the process. Working with great menus, these 'mini-me' wines have also had a positive affect on food sales right across our estate, with people more inclined to purchase something to eat to accompany their choice of wine."
Minicellar chairman Geoff Read founded the Minicellar company in 1993, having successfully built the Ballygowan bottled water brand through the 80s into the number one bottled water brand in the UK on-trade, eventually selling it to a subsidiary of Allied Domecq.
During this time, Geoff identified the way wines were being served in pubs as being grossly inadequate and set about launching a range of single-serve 187ml wines first in Ireland and then the UK.
Geoff says: "The Minicellar Range is all about ensuring quality of serve at the same time as heightening consumer awareness of wine and delivering a healthy profit to the licensee.
"A quarter-bottle provides the consumer with good value for money as each bottle offers a standard glass and a half of wine that's served fresh every time."
He adds: "Wine is the fastest-growing sector in the UK alcoholic drinks market - consumers trade up in quality quickly. As we've seen in Ireland, stocking a range of quarter-bottles of recognisable brands, enables consumers to experiment more freely with wine, enjoying a different quarter-bottle with each round or course."
Commenting further, Eldridge Pope's Tim Bird says: "As a consumer, if your wine has been poured from a 750ml bottle into a sub-standard glass, a question has to be raised over the length of time that the wine has been sitting there.
"If somebody asks for a single glass of Rioja at 10.30pm on a Monday night and the bar tender has to open a new bottle, that wine has the potential to remain sitting behind the bar for hours or even days, awaiting the next customer who fancies a glass of the same.
"With 187ml single-serve wines there are no quality-of-fill or wastage issues and wines are also far easier to manage from a stock-control point of view, as there is a clear view in the fridge or the counter-top Minicellar display of exactly what is left."
The success of quarter-bottles in estates like Eldridge Pope is certainly worth noting.
Tim says that another advantage of the Minicellar range is that they feature recognisable supermarket brands in mini-bottles, encouraging consumers' confidence at the bar by helping them decide which wine to purchase, and leading to experimentation with varietals and countries of origin.
"At Eldridge Pope we're mindful of the 'experience' we provide for our customers," says Tim. "We serve 187ml wines in 175ml glasses, pouring wine into the glass at the point of sale and handing the bottle to the consumer with its remaining contents. This underlines the 'quality-serve' provided by the range and delivers a noticeable degree of added value."
For more information on the Minicellar Range contact Reads World of Wine on 01628 418126