Leveraging Adult Beverage Trends to build your Brand

Leveraging Adult Beverage Trends to build your Brand

             As its football season allow me to be a “pigskin pundit” and begin with a football analogy.  The famous Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes once said that he didn’t like to pass the ball since of the three possible results there was only one positive outcome.  Those of us who understand the game get it, if you’re in any type of business you’ll understand that being successful only 33% of the time may not move you toward the goal post.

            So what’s the point between moving the ball forward and your brand?  If your brand is the life-blood of your business then every attempt to create additional value for that brand is truly your goal.  The ability to recognize the challenges between your brand and the attainment of your objectives could be the difference between future successes or failure, so reviewing the landscape (or playing field) is an important function of maintaining and building brand value.

            Polls and surveys only have value for the people who believe in them, or at least believe in the source so we’re offering a couple of generally accepted reliable sources.  Gallup reported in July of this year that consumer drinkers prefer wine with Women at 50% and Men at 11% but there are different methods to slicing that pie when you consider that 38% of the adult population doesn’t drink any alcohol at all. Consumer data from “wine-centric” audiences continue to tell an interesting story.  Shanken Media Research reports that sales of wine-by-the-glass are 80% of on premise consumption and of that amount 60% is among the house varietal pours.  Wine Enthusiast offers that when wine is available by the glass wine drinkers choose wine-by-the-glass first.

            We understand that many readers may not believe in or buy-in to polls and surveys, yes we may all be guilty of using the statistics we prefer to tell our own unique story.  So let’s review some sales figures which we believe most observers would agree tell the story in black and white.  Beer Business daily quoted Nielsen sales data from July of this year (same time frame as the survey above) that both wine and spirit sales were up at the expense of domestic beer.  The sales data reflect wine sales volume was up 1.5% and that dollar sales were up 2.2% while Americans like their bubbly even more which was up 12.4%.  Although it’s painful both the Brewers Association and National Beer Wholesalers Association admit that beer sales are lagging behind both wine and spirits (hey someone’s got to come in third). 

            So let’s pull all that information together to create a “Brand Building” strategy.  As the only beverage (wine) within our review that offers a Branding opportunity for the operator we’re going to focus on those house varietal pours.  Some food service operators already understand that offering a proprietary wine allows them to add value to the brand and perhaps get a little better price point. Once the operator understands that part we suggest they take the next step to drive more to the bottom line and if you can’t always raise the sales price we suggest eliminating some of the costs associated with wine service. 

            Offering beer on draft is more profitable than selling it in bottles or cans and that idea is currently finding its’ way into on premise wine sales as many consumers now order their wine-by-the-glass. Initially a steel keg technology similar to the craft beer kegs was applied as a service platform for wine-by-the-glass.  On the surface it makes sense and it actually works; however, there are always pro’s and con’s to every type of technology, let’s review the differences.

Steel Keg Technology as a Wine Service Platform:

• Wine comes in direct contact with the gas propellant either straight nitrogen or a combination of nitrogen and carbon-dioxide
• Allowing the wine to mix with the propellant will eventually affect the flavor especially if the wine doesn’t turn over quickly
• Steel kegs are reusable but must be serviced between fillings including cleaning and reconditioning which is a “cost” passed onto the end user
• Wine for steel keg filling must be transported from the winery to a keg “filling station” which increases both the cost of that wine and the carbon footprint of the technology
• Steel kegs don’t always expel all of their product and leaving any wine inside the keg is wine that can’t be served to a guest at a cost that must be incurred by the operator
• Some steel kegs command you must purchase a proprietary dispensing system as compared to using open architecture equipment such as a draft beer box
• Wine shelf-life in a steel keg is about 30 days once it is tapped and once tapped just as with a beer keg it can’t be “untapped” in the event that should be necessary

It appears that offering a house varietal pour through a draft-style steel keg service platform will create costs and service challenges that lessen the hopes of using it as a branding tool.  What the operator needs is a service platform that allows them to pour their branded house varietals without the additional costs of bottles (cost of their waste) and the operating cost issues with steel keg technology.  This is how we earn our keep as hospitality consultants, we bring value to our clients by performing all the leg work and heavy lifting!  Imagine the value of promoting your house pour varietals without the costs outlined above, some key points to consider include the following elements.

Non-Steel Keg Technology as a Wine Service Platform:

• A wine service platform that doesn’t allow contact with propellant gases and therefore maintains the original integrity of the wine preserving its “winery fresh” properties
• Eliminating the costs of servicing and reconditioning the wine keg by using a service platform technology that is 100% recyclable
• Using a service platform that allows for filling at the “winery” and not incur the costs of transporting wine to a “filling station” offering a smaller carbon footprint
• A wine service platform that allows for 100% of its contents to be expelled leaving no additional wine inside and therefore no inventory loss
• A service platform that uses the same Sankey connection as beer kegs allowing the operator to use open-architecture equipment and eliminate the cost of proprietary equipment purchases
• Using a non-steel keg service platform that will preserve the flavor and shelf-life of the wine for up to six (6) months reducing loss and associated costs without adding additional sulfites to the wine as with steel kegs

Eliminating the end-user costs offers the operator a viable solution to how a house varietal pour can build their brand in a profitable manner and not just slap their name on a bottle label.  This is the point where the curious and or motivated operator decides they need to learn more about this unique branding and sales opportunity and we’re here to help with that heavy-lifting!  To learn more please contact us at www.themenuspring.com and we can begin a valuable conversation about building your brand with something you’re already selling.