Morrisons fleshes out £12-15 range and entry level wines

UK retailer Morrisons has ‘reenergised’ its range of French wines for Spring and is looking to Eastern Europe in a bid to offer better value to its customers.

Speaking to the drinks business at its recent tasting, wine sourcing manager Charles Cutteridge said that the team had reworked some of Eastern Europe wines at the entry level as part of the ongoing project to “unlock more at the value level”.

Cutteridge said the team was now “quite far down the road of bringing lower alcohol alternatives to the entry level” which has been an interesting project, and one where Eastern Europe had played a key part. Morrisons branded varietals of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for example coming from the region. “Essentially, it’s part of a project to unlock more at the value level,” he said. “And it’s more about how we approach alcohol at entry-level than formally about Eastern Europe.”

The team are also part way through a project to reenergise France and “rework” some of the classics.

“For us, it’s about re-energising the category and putting value back in as France can have a reputation as being more expensive but that doesn’t have to be the case,” Cutteridge explained. “We have been focussed on how we can restructure the range to offer the key price points that are reflective of the rest of the world, but in France.”

For example, it has removed its previous Saint Émilion sku, which retailed for £14 and replaced it with a Best Montagne Saint Émilion from the same producer, Jules Lebegues,  in order to retail it for £12 (£10 on promotions), while adding in a Grand Cru Saint Émilion for £15 (which will go on promotion at £13 in June.

“We are offering more premium between £10-£15, and up to £20 where it makes sense.  for things like Chateauneuf,” he explained, but in terms of offering more premium wines at £25, Cutteridge said that after experimenting, the team concluded that “we just don’t have the sales to justify a permanent listing of £25 and upwards”. As a result, it was “fleshing out” the £12-15 range.

“It’s about occasions, people are eating in and having more things at home than they were. It’s birthday dinners and date nights, and it’s important that we have the wines that capture the more treating occasions as well as the more everyday occasions.”

He added that in terms of ranging, Morrison’s mantra remained “to offer value  at every level as best can offer” and the Best range remained a vehicle for demystifying wine and   encouraging trial of new areas that offer good value and area, as well as ensuring “a good balance and some more premium wines for the more treating occasions,” he said.

“We are looking at how to be creative in an appellation to offer the same styles that people know and love, but in a more wallet friendly notion,” he said.

Other additions in France include new Loire reds – a Chinon from Chainier under the Best range, that represents “fantastic value – there was not a gap, in terms of what other have in the range, but the Loire red wines have move don in quality and consistency, so it was time to try a varietal cabernet franc,” Cutteridge explains. It forms part of the retailer’s focus on lighter styles of “bistro” re wines that are “great to chill down and are easy drinking” for summer.