Japanese Sake It's been clear to even the sleepiest consumer that sake is showing up on more wine store and grocery shelves, on more menus – from traditional Japanese cuisine to the neighborhood seafood joint – and as the star of more specialty shops in the United States than ever before. The value of sake imports into the U.S. has increased over 450% since 1999, with most of that increase happening in the last 5 years, according to USDA import data.
Ed Lehrman, VC Partner agrees, “We've been importing sake since 2001 and have seen our distributor sales increase 14-fold since then. In fact, we've averaged 57% growth per year for the last five years – a number that if maintained would see us double our current sales every year and a half.” At the same time as case sales of sake are increasing, the price per liter of imported sake has steadily risen nearly 45% since 1999. The fact that people continue to spend more on a premium beverage, even through two recessions, attests to its rapidly growing popularity. Sake has become a hot commodity across a wide spectrum of accounts. Our sake can be found not only at Napa's revered French Laundry, but it also claims a star role in two of the most popular cocktails at Ruby Tuesdays chain of restaurants. As sake becomes more mainstream, however, the competition for strong footing in such a fast-growing category has become more pronounced. More importers and more large distributors have finally keyed into the opportunity, searching out and offering their own portfolios of high-quality sake. Fortunately, Vine Connections is already steps ahead on three levels: Now is the time to secure our positions as the go-to guys for premium Japanese sake—while the iron is hot and the sake is cold. Kanpai! P.S. Don't forget to toast our favorite Japanese beverage on October 1st as we celebrate International Sake Day, or in Japanese Nihonshu no Hi. |
New Retail Sales Tool: Vine Connections has developed a new, proactive way to help grow our distributors' and retailers' business with almost no work. Our new Retail Email Program drives sales at the consumer level which provides retailers with incremental revenue, and helps our distributors with targeted depletions of new placements, focus items, or just more of the hot stuff. Truly a win-win-win. So, how does it work? “Our goal is to work with the distributor and retailer to develop unique and non-traditional offers to help us stand out in everyone's already-flooded email inboxes. For example, let's send an email during the first week of November to celebrate the Argentine holiday of the Day of the Gaucho by offering an exclusive Malbec 3-pack at a 15% discount,” explained Lisa Johnson, VC Director of Marketing. Since many wine consumers love to pair wine with food, each template contains a recipe tied to its basic theme. A relevant “Did You Know” fact is also included which gives consumers fun tidbits to use at their next cocktail party. And, is it working? “We've had over 30 retailers send out over 5,000 emails so far. Each retailer has reported a significant increase in sales and store traffic during the offer period. I'd say retailers are experiencing an average sales bump of 15-20% of the promoted VC items. It really is a no-brainer for them,” said Melanie Malosky, VC National Sales Manager. “The “Grilling” template was so easy to use. All we did is add our logo and pricing, hit send, and boom! We moved hundreds of cases over just a few days. I'm looking forward to trying another one,” added a retailer. Another retailer agreed, “I'm able to use a lot of this content and offer ideas for our own email program. In June, I included the basic content of the Argentine Flag Day template, promoted Tikal Patriota, and sold 5 cases in one quick shot.” Using this handy tool has helped drive sales and depletions while helping strengthen distributor and retailer relationships in the very competitive wine arena – without adding more work to people's plates. And that leaves more time for drinking wine. Amen. To learn more about the VC Retail Email program, please click here! |
Alpana Singh: Malbecs and Ginjos are becoming permanent fixtures on an increasing number of restaurant wine lists as many sommeliers and wine directors are discovering the versatility and consistent quality of these gems. Rather than listen to us extol the virtues of these great beverages, we thought it would be more interesting to hear directly from these well-respected industry leaders and how they are building these wines and sake into their beverage programs. First up is Alpana Singh, Sommelier and Director of “When I first started working with Argentine wines, Malbec was something off the beaten path, an avant-garde choice on a wine list. Its drinkability, versatility and price point now makes it a must-have for many of my properties. In fact, Malbec is now my 3rd best-selling by-the-glass red wine behind Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot. I predict in another 6-12 months, Malbec will be a must-have on any restaurant wine list in the US.” “Malbec works great with the different cuisines of our many restaurants. It is dynamite with the soy, black bean, and garlic flavors of Asian, I love it with garlicky Indian dishes, and of course, it's a natural with Latin. Malbec is also such a value that consumers get extraordinarily high-quality wines, such as Luca and Tikal, without spending a lot.” “I have had such success with Malbec that I've been experimenting with more wines from Argentina, both native Argentine and non-Argentine varietals. I've been so impressed with the quality of these traditionally non-Argentine varietals that I now have a couple restaurants offering Argentine Chardonnay and Cabernet.” “For me, it's all about the quality in the glass, not just the geography.”
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Wine & Spirits for the Chicago-based Lettuce 
