The future sparkles for retailer brands of wine say exhibito

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Retailers' own private label wines are better positioned than ever before, say exhibitors who participated in the industry's Private Label Trade Show in Chicago recently. Wineries and producers from South Africa, Kosovo, Italy, and California said that private label wine has become a must have for retailers who want to entice the 21st century customer.

That's because these wines have little in common with the cheap and poorly made brands that dominated the market for years and they say that you don't have to look any further than the success of retailers like Costco, Trader Joe's, Aldi, and Lidl.

This year's exhibitors cited:

• Pricing. Private label producers, says George Kuhn of Owl Ridge Wine Services in Healdsburg, Calif., are being more aggressive in helping retailers meet margin and pricing requirements. The sweet spot, he says, is $12 to $20 retail.
• Innovation: How about wine that isn't made with the same old grapes? Two wineries from Kosovo, Kosova Wine and Stone Cellars, are showing how far eastern Europe has come. Stone Cellar's private label line, Food Wine, includes native grapes like the red vrnac and the white smederevka. In addition, Italy's Gruppo I Vinai has responded to the popularity of sweet red wine with a private Lambrusco.
• Quality: Retailers are demanding better quality, and producers are responding with wines like Cantine Europa's organic reds and whites from Sicily.
• Packaging: Retailers are more demanding than ever, and it's not enough to have a fancy, wine-sounding Chateau-y name. Instead, they're looking for products like South Africa's Zidela Wines and its Mooiberg reds and whites and its Mbali white.
• Service. If a retailer says they need something a certain way we're going to find a way to make it work, says Gabe Markovitz of Rack and Riddle Custom Wine Services in Napa, Calif. Case in point: a Champagne-style sparkling wine made from California grapes at one-quarter the price of Champagne.

These companies were among 1,450 store brands suppliers to exhibit at the annual trade show presented by the Private Label Manufacturers Association. The event is the largest trade event in North America exclusively devoted to retailers' brands.

Founded in 1979, PLMA represents more than 4,400 companies who are involved in the manufacture and distribution of store brand products, including food and beverages, health and beauty products, household supplies and general merchandise.    

 

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SOURCE Private Label Manufacturers Association