Tesco man gives our wine exporters an earful  (28 Nov)

FOODweek Online reports that Dan Jago, the Director of Beer, Wines and Spirits of the huge UK Supermarket Tesco, addressed the Wine Industry Outlook Conference in Melbourne recently. It is not as though Tesco is unimportant to Oz wines, they are our single largest overseas buyer.

Jago said, "For too long you’ve been saying ‘this is good because it’s Australian.’ You have to tell us why it’s different."

Fair enough and its a valid comment but he them said, “I would also urge you to make your wines lighter and more refreshing. “Wines with 13 or 14 percent alcohol just aren’t exciting any more, and consumers are currently looking to the Old World for more refreshing wines.”
 

This guy might hold a loft position but that does not mean he is either right or knows what he is talking about. That second comment of his, not to put to fine a point on it, is knee-jerk reactionary crap. Claiming that all wines that are 13 or 14% alcohol  aren't exciting, sounds like the product of a male bovine's rectum with a case of terminal diarrhoea.               

Its not just Australian wines that are 13 or 14% alcohol; many of Frances finest Bordeaux wines, even those with First and Second growth status often tip the scales at 13 to 14% alcohol. I suppose that Jago finds those “not exciting anymore” too.

As far as “consumers looking to the Old World for more refreshing wines,” that needs to be seen in context. I have no doubt that comment is true. There will always be consumers that will look to Old World wines for a number of reasons. They think that New World wines are too alcoholic, doesn’t go with food etc. But hang on a second….. what is happening, and what has been happening to Old World wine sales (excluding the top end) for decades? Sales have been dropping to the point that the industry is in crisis and the EU is spending billions propping it up. And who is the recipient of the Old World lost sales? Why it’s the New World; isn’t it? And how are a number of the Old World producers trying to compete? Why by producing wines that look more like New World wines!  

New Zealand and Australia both make a fair range of Riesling and Sauvignon Blac that I would certainly call refreshing. What alcohol percentage are those wines? Many are in the 13-14% range, so based on Jago’s comments; consumers won’t like those wines as they can’t be exciting or refreshing. Jago either has forgotten or doesn’t understand that when assessing a wine, the alcohol percentage that is written on the bottle, is not the be-all and the end-all. The factor that should matter is the balance of the wine. A wine at 13 or 14% alcohol can be perfectly balanced and taste glorious, but a wine at 12%, especially from the New World can frequently be green, thin, pissy and unripe. Yet that does not seen to concern Jago.

Jago went on to say, “As an industry, and as a retailer, we’re running too hot on promotions at the moment. You shorten the life of your brands by over-spiking the. “Let’s reduce promotional participation.” Now that sounds a lot more sensible. Over-promotion got Southcorp into big trouble in the UK, and if you keep doing it, consumers expect it and you make a rod for your own back. But we have to examine the other side of the coin. If we don’t do promotions in Tesco’s, anyone of a number of other nations will happily take those slots at the end of the supermarket isle and eventually take market share. Promotional discounts need to be balanced.

Jago's closing comment was a good one, "If you don’t change, others will change faster.”  Whilst I agree that new marketing strategies are required and we do need to make changes, the stylist changes Jago is suggesting is a recipe for disaster. Jago may be an expert on moving boxes of groceries, but he has little understanding of viticulture and how it effects wine. What's the bet he is a larger/beer drinker?     

Feel free to submit your comments!