UK: Constellation publishes on-trade wine study

UK pubs are missing out on a potential GBP1.2bn (US$2.3bn) in wine sales, according to research commissioned by Constellation Europe.

The wine giant had asked analysts Wine Intelligence to research why UK consumers bought - or stayed away from - wine in a pub. Wine Intelligence interviewed over 700 drinkers and found that pub operators could increase the number of people who drank wine by up to 41%.

Constellation Europe's on-trade customer marketing controller Norrie Donaldson called the results a "wake-up call" for wine producers and pub owners. "The difference between home versus pub consumption for wine is huge compared with other alcohol categories such as beer, spirits, cider and ready-to-drink (RTDs) where the differential is marginal,"
she said earlier this week.

"The research has enabled us to put consumer behaviour into context and understand their needs. We can, in turn, share this knowledge with our on-trade customers to help them sharpen up their wine business."

Constellation said the study had identified four groups of consumers who bought wine in pubs - the "bargain hunter", the "sociable drinker", the "high rollers" and the "by-the-glass occasionals".

Donaldson said categorising consumers had made it easier to understand why drinkers bought wine in certain outlets. She added: "Pub restaurants have a broader consumer base serving three of the four consumer types and should offer a wider range of wines to appeal to different customers."

The publication of the study comes just two weeks after Constellation denied that senior management at its Matthew Clark distribution business had tried to artificially boost the company's wine sales in pubs to win a lucrative contract. Last month, Steve Thompson, the managing director at Matthew Clark, was claimed to have e-mailed staff asking them to buy eight bottles each, thereby driving sales of the company's wine during a trial at JD Wetherspoon outlets.

Constellation, which already supplies 650 Wetherspoon pubs throughout the UK, is looking to win the tender to become the exclusive supplier of house wine to the chain. Wetherspoon sells a number of non-Constellation brands including Blossom Hill, Fetzer and Wolf Blass.

Constellation said the scheme asking staff to visit Wetherspoon pubs and buy the company's wine was not a ploy to bump up its sales but merely a "mystery shopper type exercise".