Drink Less, Drink Better

My last post, Beyond Chateau Chunder, referred to some of the issues of the wine trade which may, or may not, have had the Australian wine boom as their catalyst.

We all know the problems: consumers trained to buy only on price or a dubious deal; high tax regime ; no easy brand hierarchies to guide the consumer ; infinite replacement ; fragmented, competitive market and so on....

And so we are about to enter 2013, a year that may well be unlucky for some if we continue on the same path, with some fairly stark choices in front of us. We also have some opportunities that at present seem like fairly fundamental challenges.

2012 will go down as one of the smallest global wine grape harvest in the last 40 years. The European wine lake has been all but drained, Australia's grape supply is getting back in synch with demand, California is in deficit and South America has little excess with which to feed thirsty markets.

The obvious outcome is that prices will rise, in some cases substantially. Some of these price increases will be opportunistic, some fundamental and long lasting. How we, as an industry, handle these challenges will determine how many of us survive the next 5 years.

Given that we also live in austere times, the possibility that consumers will choose to drink the same quantity but at inevitably lower buy in prices, is a real one - and one that few of us can afford to let happen. The big opportunity is to drive home the message that now is the time to "Drink Less, Drink Better"

Adopted by the entire trade, and run as a concerted campaign including print & digital media platforms, Drink Less, Drink Better could include messages regarding the iniquity of the alcohol tax regime and the benefits of trading up as well as strong corporate responsibility angles, health benefits, supporting communities both in wine regions and in the UK through sustainable viticulture and retailing.

We've long talked about how important it is to trade up in terms of quality, but generally we are talking to ourselves. Many of the trade debates at present are rather introspective and so, in 2013, could we not, as an industry, get together to to make our voices heard?

I hope so.