FOCUS & ANALYSIS
WINE FALLS BEHIND
WINE
NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS WINE ISN’T MAKING THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY CASUAL DINING. JO GILBERT REPORTS
TAKING ADVANTAGE
The groundwork is already in place for wine producers, merchants and wholesalers to take advantage of the UK’s vibrant food culture, and not just for the potential for wine and food pairings. It is equally important because of its ability to get consumers away from the TV and out of the house. A growing shift towards drinking at home was highlighted by data from Touchpoints 2017, launched earlier this month, which showed that 52% of adults (26.6 million) now drink at home at least once a week. While this has only increased by 1% over two years, up from 51% of the population in 2015 (26 million people), it’s a good indicator of where those 611,000 pub and bar attendees might have gone. But despite 52% of wine drinkers drinking wine out of home on food-led occasions, and a further 42% drinking wine out of home on both food-led and drink-led occasions
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A national interest in culinary prowess – I refer you to the 9.46 million people who tuned in for the new series of Bake Off at the end of August – a thriving food scene and the national decline of retail outlets have all contributed to explosive growth in the on-trade in recent years, with restaurants popping up in retail fascias in town centres across the country. The new WSTA Q3 2017 report in conjunction with CGA goes some way to demonstrating this rapid rate of change, placing the percentage growth of UK restaurants since 2011 at 21%. The report also examines the ways in which the sector has changed, in particular, how casual dining outlets are overtaking the big high street chains as the dominant sector for branded drink sales. According to the report, 27% of all drink-led visits to branded outlets occur in casual dining outlets. Altogether, this should be good news for wine, says Sean Busby, senior client manager at CGA, since it is “so strongly linked to food-led occasions, there is a strong starting point for wine to take advantage of this opportunity”. However, the same research suggests that wine is failing to live up to the promise offered by the permutations in the restaurant sector and isn’t leveraging those opportunities in the same way as the food menu.
(CGA data), casual dining outlets could be underwhelming customers with their wine offer. Busby notes: “51% of consumers who visit casual dining brands drink wine out of home. However, just 14% of all main drinks at casual dining brands are wine (of any variety), suggesting that this opportunity is not being taken advantage of.” On top of this, evidence suggests that consumers are not satisfied with the current ranges on offer. Just 25% of consumers who drink (still) wine at casual dining brands rate the quality as “very good”, says CGA, and these low expectations are having an impact on the overall dining experience. “Our research shows that those who do rate wine quality as ‘very good’ are 3.1 times more likely to recommend the outlet than those not rating the wine quality on offer, while they are also more likely to revisit and be satisfied with the overall experience,” Busby observes. The other piece of the puzzle here is also wine sales in the on-trade, which have had a difficult time of late. According to CGA, in the 12 weeks to 17/6/17, volume was down -7% to 360,000 hls, while value fell by 2% to £773m. Figures for the year are similar. Still wine saw some of the biggest increases in average price per litre compared to other alcohol categories, however, coming in at over £21 both for the year and the last quarter. This was in line with expectations, the WSTA said, with the effect of Brexit on sterling and duty increases in March both contributing to higher bottle prices. Now is a delicate time. In many areas of the trade, consumers have shown a willingness to ride the price-hikes and stick with their favourite wines, and there is even the potential for Brexit to drive more appreciation and value in the wine category, if operators and suppliers can get the offer right.
Customers are not satisfied with the wine ranges on offer
“JUST 14% OF ALL MAIN DRINKS AT CASUAL DINING BRANDS ARE WINE”
| October 2017 28/09/2017 14:19