Uncorking the potential

ViVAS, the joint venture wine company that combines the strength of leading foodservice wholesaler 3663 First for Foodservice and independent wine company Bibendum, has been working with Sell More Save More outlets over the past five months to drive sales and refresh offerings. Henry John, marketing manager of ViVAS recaps on progress to date and also offers a quick guide to improving your wine offer: ​

"Food and wine are a key part of the margin mix for any pub, and we have demonstrated that a successful offer - broadly speaking - comes down to understanding your customer needs and using an integrated approach where wine and food complement each other while not neglecting the operational realities of your business.

"We've been working in partnership with the Sell More Save More pubs over the last few months and in the short time since the start of the programme there have been significant changes to some of the wine options that are now available in these outlets.

"Graham Bulpett from The Priory Arms has been working very closely with Julie Fontaine, customer development manager for ViVAS, to update the pub's wine menu. With her help, Graham hosted a wine tasting to relaunch the winelist at the end of June and after the initial launch period wine sales have now settled and are showing continuous improvement

The Priory Arms embraces new winelist​

Graham said: "ViVAS has helped me change my winelist which is something I've wanted to do for a while, but never got round to. The team has taken the work away from me and now I've got a good range of well presented wines.

"I've benefited from working with ViVAS. It's nice to be intouch with a company that has good communications - Julie is great to work with, deliveries are on time and there have been no mistakes. It's a smooth operation."

The Cross Keys goes one step further​

Mark White at The Cross Keys in Henley worked closely with both 3663 and ViVAS to not only update his food menu but also compile a winelist that can stand independently or complement the food offering.

Elaine Horne from ViVAS also assisted Mark by hosting wine tasting and tutoring sessions with staff to ensure they knew the new wines that launched during the August bank holiday weekend. All of the activity focused on educating the team so that they can easily upsell and provide customers with good, solid advice.

Elaine said: "Mark's feedback on our work so far has been positive. Since working with him, his food and wine offer has improved, sales have increased and we've heard encouraging feedback from customers about the changes in the Cross Keys.

"Over time we've won Mark's trust and as our suggestions have helped his business this trust has strengthened. A good relationship between a supplier and customer is always important and it's our job to give Mark ideas and recommendations that will build his business and help him achieve long term success."

The Cross Keys has seen initial sales spikes even out and recent sales have been very encouraging.

The ultimate match​

Henry explains that matching wine to food isn't always as straightforward as it seems and there area a number of ways to present complementing concepts:

Food and wine matching​

"Nowadays there is so much disagreement about what food matches what wine that it's hard not to feel confused. When you match food and wine you want to either complement or contrast flavours.

"The clean, green flavours of young, spring vegetables are best complemented by a fresh tasting, light white wine with similar delicate, green flavours. A good example of contrast is to match an oily fish like smoked salmon with crisp Champagne which will cut through the mouth-coating oiliness of the fish, refreshing your palate and making both the food and wine taste better.

"There are three basic principles in matching food and wine - matching weight, matching acidity and matching intensity. As we all know, the simplest thing of all is to match white wine with white meat, like a Chardonnay with a chicken salad, and red wine with red meat such as Merlot with sausages and mash. The only problem is that a lot of dishes aren't that simple…"

Matching weight​

Henry continues: "Matching weight means exactly what it says - a big strong wine works best with big strong food while light, simpler wine is better with similar food. Most red wines are going to complement the heartier dishes on your menu and most whites will suit the lighter ones."

Matching acidity​

"Acidity is an important part of any wine. It's the thing that makes your mouth water, makes the wine refreshing and stimulates you to take another sip. The trick here is to remember that food with a lot of acidity, for example tomatoes or vinaigrette dressing, are better with a crisp refreshing wine. This is why Sauvignon Blanc for example is going to be a better match with a dressed salad. Wines which are crisp and mouthwatering will also be good with oily food. A great example of this is an Italian red wine with Italian food where the chief ingredients are olive oil and tomatoes."

Matching intensity​

"This refers to wine and food that have very intense flavours but not much weight. Think of Thai or Chinese food with the strong flavours of chilli, garlic, coriander and lemongrass but don't sit too heavily on the stomach. Similarly intense and fragrant wines which are still light bodied are grape varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. A word of warning about chilli - big, hearty, tannic reds accentuate chilli making it unbearably hot. Hot and spicy foods are better with softer, fruitier reds like Beaujolais or Pinot Noir."

There are some food and wine combinations which are generally acknowledged to be great matches and are worth trying at least once:

• Goats Cheese and Sauvignon Blanc

• Duck and Pinot Noir

• Roast Lamb and Cabernet Sauvignon

• Sauternes (or dessert wine) and Roquefort or Foie Gras

• Chablis and Smoked Salmon

• Stilton with Port

• Champagne with Oysters

• Thai dishes with Riesling

Wine only please ​

It goes without saying that not all pubs have a food offer and Henry has some quick tips to improved wine sales in these outlets:

• Know your customers

Consider the range of wines you sell to ensure there are options that appeal to women, younger consumers, traditional consumers, inner city or rural, etc.

• Consider ranging wines in a different way

Don't always use red and white and then by price. Look at ranging by country or styles i.e. big and chunky, light and fresh, etc.

• Seasonal selling

Go for some higher priced wines for the Christmas season and fresher, lighter options for the summer- such as a sparkling rose and bigger reds

• Promoting wine

You can introduce wine of the month concepts to draw interest and focus to your wine list supported by POS material

Tips for marketing wine ​

• Eye line is buy line

Ensure that merchandising 'hotspots' (high traffic areas) are utilised to your advantage. Wine is often forgotten when it comes to back bar merchandising - if it's not on display it's not going to sell!

• The Beauty of blocking

Try to avoid single facings of wine. Wines with attractive contemporary labels, as well as traditional 'Old World' style labeling, work best when grouped together in blocks of three or four to create impact.

• Chalkboards

One of the simplest and most cost effective ways of highlighting your wine offer is to utilise chalkboards. Again, if customers don't know what you have, how is it going to sell!

• Point of sale

Link wines to your food menu by chalkboards or tent cards. If you make it easy for a customer to make a purchasing decision, the chances are they might actually buy. Your wine supplier will be only too keen to assist you in this