Cash in on wine

Licensees learnt to improve their wine offer and boost profits at a free workshop hosted by The Publican and Waverley TBS. By Phil Mellows.

As Britain increasingly becomes a nation of wine-lovers there is a great opportunity for pubs to boost sales - but how many really have the know-how to make the most of it? A free half-day workshop, jointly organised by The Publican and the newspaper's training brokerage, The Official Training Company, in association with Waverley TBS last month, offered licensees and pub staff in the North East the chance to learn more about growing their wine sales.

Around 20 people took time away from their pubs to gather at the Quayside Exchange in Sunderland for the first Oliver & Greg's Introduction to Wine workshop to hear what the experts had to say about improving their own wine business.

Pubs represented ranged from wet-led houses with minimal wine sales to pubs wanting to expand their wine list to take advatange of growing interest, to more upmarket, food-led pubs needing to improve their food-matching skills.

Waverley's Paul Livesey and Michael Atkinson kicked off proceedings with an overview of the market, pointing out that while eight out of 10 people like a glass of wine, only two in 10 will drink it in the pub.

This gap could be closed, they argued, by offering the right choice of quality wines served in good condition at the correct temperature - and by having a team of staff who are knowledgeable about one of the fastest-growing alcoholic drinks. Delegates were also given practical tips on selling more wine (see below).

Waverley's quality director Natalia Posadas-Dickson then offered advice on quality and trouble-shooting.

"There are three enemies of quality - oxygen, temperature and light," she said. "Manage these and you get good-quality wine."

Ms Posadas-Dickson surprised some, for instance, by insisting that most wines don't "mature" during storage and were best served fresh. Showing them how to check the date on the back label she advised that white wine has a typical shelf life of 12 months and red 18 months. For single-serve bottles and bag-in-box wines it is even shorter.

She demonstrated the correct way of opening a bottle, adding: "you'll be surprised at how many barstaff injure themselves". Ms Posadas-Dickson tackled delegates' specific queries.

Wine & Spirit Education Trust business development manager Jo Williamson picked up the theme of training with a presentation on the qualifications offered by the organisation.

"Training can improve staff turnover and improve your bottom-line," he argued. "You will have less waste and staff will be able to upsell and recommend wines with confidence."

The session closed with a tasting of Oliver & Greg's wines hosted by brand manager Jeremy Dunn, who recommended that delegates also carry out tastings at the pub for their staff.

"You need to taste the wines you sell to check their health, to ascertain their quality and familiarise yourself with your wine list," he said. "You get more benefit from tasting a wine than reading about it in a book, it will give your staff more confidence and make them better sellers."

• The Introduction to Wine Workshop followed the success of The Publican's free cask beer workshops, conducted with Inbev UK. For information on future workshops email Kirsty Powell at xcbjryy@pzcvasbezngvba.pbz​

Tips from the workshop: how to sell more wine​

• Merchandising.​ Make wine visible, describe it, price it right and keep it simple
• Have a wine list.​ You can organise it by country, by grape, by style by colour or by price, but make sure it is a balanced list. There has to be something for everyone. How you present your list will depend on the type of pub you are running, but make it easy to read, the less clutter the better
• Pricing.​ Basing prices on cash margins rather than gross profit makes expensive wines more affordable, so you can sell more
• Upselling.​ Selling only cheap wine is a false economy. People are becoming interested in buying better-quality wines at higher prices - and they will come back for another glass if they like it
• Don't have a house wine.​ Force people to read the list and give them a chance to choose a more expensive wine
• Glass size.​ Make it 175ml or 250ml
• Promotions.​ Give people reasons to come in. Have a wine of the month or put on special offers
• Training.​ Give staff the knowledge to describe, sell and be enthusiastic about wine. A little bit of education generates confidence. Give them a chance to taste the wines at every opportunity
• Talk about wine.​ Offer a choice, actively sell and be prepared to answer customers' questions. Ask them what they want from a wine, too, so you make sure they get the best experience
• Host tastings.​ Include wine and food tastings.