Wine Focus: Selling it better

I have strong views about the wine market in pubs. And for some time now I've been telling any poor person in the industry who will listen that there is a fundamental problem with the category - namely that it sells well in pubs but it's not well sold.

In other words, wine sells despite itself. The glorious grape has enjoyed consistent, steady growth over the last 15 years. There has not been a mad boom in sales, a la cider or RTDs (aside from massive spikes in sales of rosé and pinot grigio) but the growth has been very visible. And this, in my view, is simply down to the popularity of wine driven by supermarket sales - rather than pubs doing a good job of retailing wine to their customers.

For whatever reason, people generally have a solid knowledge of beers. If you sought out a person on the street they could engage you in a reasonably knowledgeable conversation about ales and lagers. The reverse is true with wine - it can be terribly intimidating. And this can often be seen behind the bar as well as in front of it.

The exception not the rule

Now, there are some great examples of pubs retailing wine - and I mean truly excellent. But these are the exception rather than the rule. You can find outlets that have not spent enough time on their offer; and there are those that have spent time on it but haven't looked at ways of drawing customers' attention to it; and of course there are pubs that have spent a long time sourcing their wine, pulling together a fantastic-looking wine list, but have not actually spent any time ensuring that their staff are confident in selling it.

Steal a leaf from the off-trade's book

It is a tough thing to pull all of this together, but it needs to be done, given how competitive the drinks market has become.Look at the off-trade. I would be the first to throw slings and arrows at the supermarkets and their pricing policy with wine.

But when it comes to retailing it, they have been streets ahead of the pub trade for a long time. Members of staff patrolling the wine aisles are able to provide basic advice and the wines are well-merchandised, with price, country and often style all clearly visible to the consumer. Granted, there is more space for their wines to be displayed - but the effort has been made.

This Focus will test out this argument. And it will actually show that the large parts of the pub trade are well aware of the problems that exist and that a huge amount is being done to invest in solutions. The trouble is that it is going to take some time before we see results and high quality standards across the board.

If wine is something you struggle with in your outlet hopefully you can pick up some sage advice from retailers and wholesalers who have a great deal of success with wine. It is a lot of effort - but your balance sheet will thank you in the end.