PLB ditches LIWF in strategic shift

PLB Group has confirmed it will not take a stand at this year’s London International Wine Fair.

Instead the wholesaler is hosting its first ever standalone portfolio tasting in various UK cities this week, claiming that the format allows it to offer a better service to the on-trade and independent retail customers PLB is keen to develop.

“It does fit a lot better for the customers we’re targeting,” remarked Simon Brook, PLB’s specialist field sales manager, at the company’s London tasting. “Most people have already made their decisions in May. You get lots of people expressing interest in the wines, but then it’s about nine months before they can buy any of them.”

With another alcohol duty increase anticipated in March, the PLB team was particularly keen to help customers reorganise their lists before the UK Budget announcement. “They will buy forward,” confirmed Brook. “And they might as well look at their range at the same time as they’re changing their prices.”

Using this portfolio tasting to show off 50 new listings, nearly all of which are exclusive to the independent and on-trade sectors, Adam Wyartt, PLB’s head of wholesale strategy and innovation, insisted: “This is all about servicing the bars, restaurants and wholesalers. At London Wine Fair they just don’t get the same TLC as the supermarket buyers.”

This move towards a more personalised approach forms part of the company’s response to a customer survey it carried out nine months ago. Wyartt stressed that the firm is keen to shed its image as “a faceless supplier of mass market wines,” taking steps through its more personalised new brochure and website to promote itself as “an independent, family-owned business with wines to match.”

With the independent and on-trade sectors currently representing around 20% of the company’s business, Wyartt pointed to a five year plan for PLB, saying: “We want to get that doubled, but as part of all round growth. This is not about cutting back on business with the multiples.”

The survey allowed PLB to identify three core areas for improvement. Wyartt pointed to a lack of “price fighting entry level wines”, at around £6-£8, which the company has addressed with new Australian and Spanish listings.

PLB has also paid attention to what Wyartt admitted was a “moderately deficient” Old World offering, adding 12 new wines from Italy, as well as regions such as Crozes Hermitage, Cahors, Toro and Priorat. On top of this, he flagged up new listings with the company’s “niche and compelling” bracket, including a Hungarian Grüner Veltliner and Brown Brothers Vermentino.

It’s a strategic shift that demonstrates faith in two sectors which have been hit hard by the UK’s economic downturn. However, while accepting them as having “a lot of issues at the moment,” Wyartt argued: “it’s also the first place you’ll see green shoots and we want to be part of that.”