Page 19 - IWSCReport2017

supermarket buyers
A WHOLE LOTTA bottle
Retail giant Tesco scoop this year’s supermarket wine buyer award, while Aldi impressed judges with its innovative spirits offer
wines is the latest stage of Tesco’s journey to develop its wine range by improving the quality, selection and availability, and simplifying the pricing of their own-label wines,” a spokesperson for the retailer said at the time of the launch.
Tesco’s former wine-category buying manager, James Davis MW, added: “A large number of customers are looking for a terrific wine to celebrate a special occasion, or to be an interesting talking point at the dinner table. We believe we’ve found some hidden gems among some brilliant classics. With the help of our fantastic winemaking partners we’re able to bring these once-exclusive wines to shoppers across the country.”
Year-on-year, Finest wine sales have increased by 18% and now account for nearly 40% of all sales in wine, while in the past year own-label sales topped £360m.
Proving its dedication to seeking out more unusual wines, in April the retailer added Changyu’s 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Helan Mountains in Ningxia, China, to its range. Now one of the largest wine-producing countries in the world, ahead of the more traditional regions of Chile and New Zealand, Davis believes the “impressive, food-friendly” Chateau Moser XV Cabernet, whose profile is “a cross between a classic Bordeaux and a rich fruity Australian wine”, offers customers “an opportunity to discover a unique quality wine at an affordable price”.
Confirming its commitment to quality, this year the retailer was also awarded the Sauvignon Blanc Trophy for its Tesco Finest North Row Vineyard 2016 Sauvignon Blanc.
“Winning awards across seven wine- producing countries and three continents, with a major trophy for Sauvignon Blanc, Tesco performed tremendously well at the IWSC 2017 and has proved that supermarkets can make and source trophy-winning wines,”one IWSC judge said in praise of the retailer. db
SUPERMARKET WINE BUYER
OF THE YEAR:
TESCO
Tesco, the UK’s biggest food-and-drink retailer, is on track for a turnaround this year after seeing its group sales rise by 3.3% in the first half of the year, with group operating profits of £759 million.
With regard to its beer, wine and spirits portfolio, the retailer focused on improving the relevance and profitability of its offer by broadening its range, increasing the prominence of own brand products and maintaining a strong, stable core price position in an extremely promotional market.
Led by BWS category director Rob Cook, category-buying manager for wine
John Wotton, and beer, wine and spirits selling manager Simon Marsden, its wine- buying team impressed this year’s judges with a number of innovations. In March, Tesco bolstered its premium own-label Finest range with the roll-out of 10 wines it described as being “luxury without the price-tag”. The predominantly French and Italian wines come from unusual and upcoming regions, and champion the winemakers that Tesco partnered with on the project. The bottles have been redesigned with a new silver shield on the label. As well as the standard 75cl format, Tesco rolled out the range in single-serve 187ml bottles to encourage experimentation.
“The introduction of the new premium
18 winners’ guide 2017