Draught wine set to Blossom

Last week we exclusively revealed the launch of Blossom Hill's Perfect Glass draught system. It is a bespoke draught wine font, fitted with a choice of four grape varieties: merlot, white zinfandel, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

Here we look at some of the reasons behind the launch and ask whether licensees will jump at the chance to sell Blossom Hill on draught.

Much needed innovation

One of the main demands of a pub trade journalist's job is to get out and meet industry contacts. In my case this takes in many drinks suppliers.

When it comes to meeting suppliers of wine things can get a little testy. They are impatient at the fact that beer editorial seems to outweigh wine editorial, while I profess impatience at the lack of news. And by that I mean innovation. I mean, where is it?

Look at wine in the off-trade: inventive marketing on supermarket shelves and great selection. Beer in the on-trade: extra cold technology, new fonts and innovative advertising. Even in spirits there has been a reasonable level of new product development. But with wine we are still stuck with traditional serving styles and marketing techniques.

Consumers like innovation - it motivates them to buy a product and invest time and money in a category. And wine in the on-trade needs a shot in the arm. After years of growth in pubs, Nielsen figures showed that volume sales of wine in the year up to May 2007 had fallen by three per cent - never mind the smoking ban.

However, the wine industry has failed to talk to consumers in the pub trade. Sure, some licensees market their offer, use good point of sale and blackboards. But where's the excitement, the point of difference? Where, I ask, is the innovation?

This is a question I threw in the direction of Percy Fox, the wine division owned by Diageo. According to Jon Luke, on-trade director at Percy Fox, many retailers in the trade have asked the same question.

Wine on draught

So it is with equal measures of pride and trepidation that they have unveiled the Blossom Hill Perfect Glass draught wine font.

It is a font specifically designed for wine and pubs but it is not a beer T-Bar altered to make room for wine. Jon says this is a response to challenges set down by the critics and he is convinced it will be a big breadwinner for the trade.

"The desire behind the innovation was to give the consumer something genuinely transformational. And with Blossom Hill we have one of the biggest drinks brands and so have the potential to leverage consumers to think differently about the on-trade wine offer," he says.

The immediate question is why should licensees go for draught? It is, after all, the epitome of everything that wine experts suggest has been wrong with pub wine over the last 20 years.

But, according to Jon, there are actually numerous reasons why draught wine works (see box, above), and he sums it up by suggesting that a good draught wine offering will benefit the pub's entire drinks offer.

"In the mass-market, draught can deliver unparalleled quality. But people have to be convinced with draught - so a brand with the strength of Blossom Hill can help them do that," he said. "If it is done well then wine sales can really benefit and it will drive incremental sales in the whole pub."

Trial data says it works

After trials across Greene King, Regent Inns and Whitbread the numbers are very positive.

In wet-led outlets total wine volume growth pre-trial was at 15.3 per cent - post-trial this shifted to 54.3 per cent. In food-led outlets, there was similar growth pre-trial to post-trial, growing from 18 per cent to 34.9 per cent.