Wine Success is a terrible thing to waste!
June 26, 2010
I continue to watch the market on wine and although prices seem pretty stable I still believe that it’s harder to find wines that fall into the category of “Value” wines. I think I have figured out the problem. Good wine! Hold on a minute, I know what you are thinking. How can good wine be the culprit? Let me explain.
You see, I think the wine industry suffers from its own advances. It suffers from better wine making, better farming techniques and grapes. It suffers from its own marketing machine and most certainly suffers from itself. Not there is anything wrong with this but it certainly makes it much harder to find values that nobody else knows about.
As the industry has matured, many new and important changes have basically over- saturated the market with good wine. There are plenty of good producers making very nice wines in every part of the globe. I know wine is not Kleenex. I mean how many ways can you make a tissue that different, right? But right now there is just too much wine being produced. Better yields per acre, better production methods and certainly a strained economic environment have helped to create this glut. Granted, not all wine is good. Some of it is down right undrinkable. If you have looked at your distributors catalogs lately you will see the enormous amount of wines actually being produced. It seems like it takes an hour just to get thru the whites. And that’s just one distributor. But it really comes down to one thing right? Price! Your guests think so. People are pinching wherever the can. Wine is near the top of that list. It is our own fault. We have ignored what our guest think. We haven’t listened to what they have been saying. But really, in an economy that is crippled we all need to do a better job putting wine lists out there that make sense.
It’s all well and good that you have a list full of the highly sought after wallet busters but what good is it doing for you if you are not selling it. People are dining with price as the central issue. You have looked at your dinner menus and made adjustments now it is time to look at your wine lists. Take the time to review your lists and make some tough decisions. Put wine back in the affordable range. I can not tell you how many people I speak with that are really put off by restaurant wine prices. They would love to enjoy a bottle with their meals but most restaurants make that cost prohibitive by using cost multipliers that are too high. I know a restaurant around here that is actually selling large quantities of wine with just a Retail markup philosophy. Some others are using a retail plus system and are doing quite nicely. The point is by making wines more affordable you are expanding your internal market of wine drinkers.
To long we have worked within the old adage that “I would rather sell one item for a million dollars then a million items at one dollar” Come on get with the rest of the world. Wine is still a luxury item to most diners. I want people to be able to enjoy wine with their meals. I believe you can actually increase this important revenue stream by lowering your pricing. More buying at less is better then few buying at none!
Wine Displays In Your Restaurant Will Increase Wine Sales
March 5, 2010
Walk in the front door of a restaurant and you usually get an immediate impression of the place. It could be the smell of fresh baked bread, roasted garlic or big pastry displays. It could be a smiling owner or the sound of the piano bar.What about a wine display?
Placing beautiful displays of wine and wine peripherals in different areas of the restaurant will help get customers thinking about wine even before you have seated them.
Many high end restaurants have placed wine rooms and racks in plain view of diners, giving them a direct view of the breadth of wines offered. For those restaurateurs on a tighter budget, just a table display could be effective. Empty bottles, glasses, corks, decanters, screws, are all tools that can be used to create a display.
Place the displays in view of customers, but not in high traffic or service areas. Keep the displays current, clean and bright. Take the opportunity to place your featured wines in the display. You can use bottles of interest, wine magazine covers or old wine manufacturing equipment as a focal point.
Place fliers or cards announcing wine dinners or features on or near the displays. Have the hostess travel by the displays so guest can see them. Use the displays as a compliment to all your internal marketing efforts.
If you are not inclined to being artistic, have a contest with your staff and see who can show their creative talents of display art for a small prize. Hey, why not?
Build a wine display and watch your wine sales increase!
