'We must all share the blame for cheap wine' says Tim Atkin MW
Posted on Wed 21st May 2014 at 09:52
Writing in Harper's, Tim Atkin has recently suggested we must all be held responsible for the proliferation of cheap wine that is flooding the market. Not only have the bigger retailers engaged in a loss-leading price war on bottles of wine, he argues, but "importers, agents, journalists, PR people and retailers have all failed to make a collective case for trading up".Anyone who has seen consumers enter their shop and immediately start browsing the selection by price will know what kind of culture this has created. As the recent UK Wine Market Landscape 2014 report demonstrated, we live i
Writing in Harper's, Tim Atkin has recently suggested we must all be held responsible for the proliferation of cheap wine that is flooding the market. Not only have the bigger retailers engaged in a loss-leading price war on bottles of wine, he argues, but "importers, agents, journalists, PR people and retailers have all failed to make a collective case for trading up". Anyone who has seen consumers enter their shop and immediately start browsing the selection by price will know what kind of culture this has created. As the recent UK Wine Market Landscape 2014 report demonstrated, we live in a world where a third of consumers are not comfortable spending more than £5 on a bottle of wine.
Ten years ago, argues Atkin, this might have given you something of vaguely acceptable quality, but now: "the wine in the bottle is invariably disgusting". What's more, given costs such as tax, labour and bottling, retailers struggle to make much of a margin on these cheap and nasty bottles. Surely, then, the time has come for us to stand up and shout the benefits of good value wine from the rooftops. It's better for the consumer, better for the producers and absolutely better for the retailers. 'Value' is indeed the key word in driving consumers towards more expensive bottles: "with wine, as with most things" observes Atkin, "you generally get what you pay for". The education process will inevitably be a slow one, but with more and more consumers realising that the £6-£10 price bracket produces good value, there are signs of hope. One of the best ways to influence customers is to do a blind tasting of cheap vs good value wines - once they've tasted the difference it's much easier for them to justify spending that extra few pounds.
You can also arrange displays that demonstrate why some wines provide excellent value for money. Stobi wines, for example, come from the relatively undiscovered wine region of Macedonia, meaning that customers are not only trying something new and exciting, but they're also not paying extra for the prestige associated with a popular region such as Bordeaux. If you can introduce your customers to great value gems such as Stobi, you'll create a loyal customer base that walks straight past that £4.99 section in your shop, not to mention a healthier profit margin for yourself. As Atkin concludes, it is only by educating customers that we can preserve the future of our industry, so perhaps start that education with Stobi - at the Three Wine Men Show Tim said about Stobi “It’s a great range of wines!”. If you’d like tips on how to drive your consumers towards better quality wines such as Stobi, contact Signature Wines who specialise in eastern European wines and are the UK official wine importer and wine distributor for Stobi.