Bibendum extends portfolio with emerging Old World trends

UK drinks supplier Bibendum Wine is looking to emerging Old World trends in the on-trade as it extends its portfolio by over 100 lines.

The on-trade supplier, which is now part of Conviviality Plc, has added around 100 lines from across Europe, using data gleaned from its trend insight tool, Mode, which analyses data from 30 of the UK’s market-leading venues.

Bibendum’s market insights manager Alexandra Chambers the tool helped capture wine trends as they evolved at the top end of the UK on-trade. “This enables our Market Insights team to uncover early stage trends to keep our buyers ahead of the curve in the wider market,” she said.

Some of the emerging trends flagged up by the company include premium wines from the Languedoc, the growing popularity of orange wine, red wines from Austria, and premium German wines.

Analysis by the group showed the Languedoc and Roussillon now appear in the top half of 44% of Modes lists, with prices having risen to above £40, showing it was no longer viewed as a regions from which to source inexpensive or bulk wine.

“Languedoc and Roussillon are becoming increasingly popular for high-quality wines and are gaining coveted premium spots on the trend-setting lists,” it said.

Orange wines were also starting to “excel”, it said, also appearing on around 44% of Mode lists and increasingly being listed under their own dedicated sections of the wine lists. Meanwhile Austrian red wines are now listed in more than a third of wine bars, the data showed, a fact it attributed to the rising popularity of Austrian wine varieties, Gruner Veltliner and Blaufrankisch. Among the reds, indigenous grapes were a clear focus.

Using data on the tool, the company has added around 100 new wines, with new producers including Domaine Sainte Rose near Servian in the Languedoc, run by English wine-making couple Charles and Ruth Simpson, Dorking-based English wine producer Litmus Wines and three new German producers Weingut Peth-Wetz in Rheinhessen, Weingut Kopp in Baden and Joh. Bapt. Schäfer in Nahe. This came on the back of the growing popularity of premium German wines, according to Bibendum’s Germany buyer Jamie Avenell, who argued that travelling in Germany had revealed a new side to German wines.

“There are the established, more traditional producers and estates, many of whom produce outstanding wines. But there is a fast-evolving new face of German wine, a new generation with a more international perspective, and a more modern style waiting to be embraced by the trade,” he said.

Bibendum is part of Conviviality Direct, the UK’s largest wholesale on-trade supplier, which sits alongside Matthew Clark within the wider Conviviality Plc group. The group’s retail and events arms come up Conviviality Retail, which includes Bargain Booze and Wine Rack and Conviviality Trading respectively.