Spar wine boss calls for respect

Spar’s trading controller has spoken out about the need for the public to take the chain’s wine range seriously.

Speaking at a tasting ahead of the company’s forthcoming National Wine Festival, Xenia Irwin MW (pictured) told the drinks business: ”We’re really serious about our wines and it’s time both consumers and the trade start taking us seriously.

“Once we start to be taken seriously then consumers will begin to trust in us more, and will be more willing to experiment with our wines. We don’t want people to be embarrassed about buying wine from Spar, we want them to be proud of it – and they should be proud.

“There’s huge snobbery in wine, and my aim is to improve the public’s perception of our range. I want people to feel happy and confident about buying wine from us.”

Spar’s National Wine Festival runs from 28 April to 8 June across its 2,100 licensed UK stores, offering a 25% discount on 50 of its French and Australian wines.

To mark the occasion, Spar has introduced a pair of new wines to its range: Butterfly Dreaming Semillon/Sauvignon and Butterfly Dreaming Shiraz/Grenache/Mourvèdre, marketed at women.

The demise of First Quench in 2009 was beneficial for Spar, leading to a rise in alcohol sales, athough the Wine Rack brand is set for expansion following its rescue by Venus Wines.

“The reappearance of Wine Rack isn’t a threat to Spar as they’re not a direct competitor of ours,” says Irwin.

“Our real competitors are small supermarket stores like Tesco Metro and Sainsbury’s Local.”

Spar operates 2,000 stores across the UK and has a turnover of over £2.6 billion.

Lucy Shaw, 21.01.2011