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“Wine is no different than toilet paper”
One of the most powerful wine buyers in the world, Annette Alvarez-Peters of Costco, has slammed wine as “just a beverage” and “no different than toilet paper.”
When CNBC presenter Carl Quintanilla offered that wine was different to loo paper because it’s personal, Alvarez-Peters replied: “People can look at it that way, but at the end of the day it’s just a beverage, you either like it or you don’t.”
Alvarez-Peters is in charge of over US$1bn in wine sales per year, including fine wines like Château Mouton Rothshild and Château Pétrus.
She is also in charge of setting prices on wines that affect most of America’s small wine retailers, as well as heading a team of 17 international and domestic wine buyers.
Before taking on the role of director of wine buying, Alvarez-Peters worked as a buyer in Costco’s auto parts and electronics division. She had no wine and spirits knowledge.
“I’m an employee of Costco that happens to oversee the wine category,” she told Quintanilla.
Last year, Alvarez-Peters was voted the sixth most powerful person in the wine world in Decanter magazine’s biennial power list.
Costco is the largest US importer of French fine wines, none of which are marked up more than 15%.
Alvarez-Peters keeps the Costco wine selection down to just 200 lines at any one time.
Costco is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the US, the sixth largest retailer in the US, and the seventh largest retailer in the world.
This week, the retail giant will be jostling with Woolworths and Coles in Australia to offer the lowest price for Penfolds Grange 2007, set to go on sale on Thursday.
One of the most anticipated launches of the year in Australia, the RRP for Grange 2007 is AU$625, but it is thought that the big three will offer it for significantly less.
From a retail perspective she is probably right. Costco only sell a limited selection of well-known branded wines, for keen prices. They therefore use the wine brands’ equity to support their price message. And they sell those wines from the same shelving as loo paper.Its exactly how they work with all the well known brands they sell. The point she misses is that those wine brands, whether mass-market beverages, or top Bordeaux chateaux, have spend years and millions in building that brand equity so that consumers see them as something a bit more special than loo roll. People shouldn’t be disappointed when a successful, price-led retailer speaks like this, they’re not in business to glamorise wine, they’re in business to shift boxes. You just have to be aware of their strategy and ensure that you protect your brand equity, its your responsibility, not theirs.
she sounds like a total moron
An interesting insight. Some times not trade people can add an incisive & objective dimension to wine. Hopefully she will become a convert to the non- commodity approach to this product of nature.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that a wine is good if you like it. Liking the wine does not necessarily mean it is a good or a great wine. To the consumer who considers whether to purchase a wine, fulfilling requirements is associated with the “intrinsic” sensory quality of the wine, i.e. how the wine tastes, as well as perceived value.
This Wine is GOOD as long as you LIKE it?
(subjective)
Liking the wine does not necessarily mean it is a good or a great wine.
As Professionals, we should approach it objectively!
Most managers have not considered experiential marketing because they assume their customers are rational and make decisions based on functional product features. This assumption is not entirely valid today; as it was reported in many research that consumer instead of buying new products that they do not have, they desire experiences that they have never had before!
However, having said all that, Wine is a still a commercial product. The customer ultimately decides what is perceived to be high quality. The winemaker can have a vision for what they wish to create and, providing they have the grapes and skill, can craft a wine of significance. The perception of the customer can be influenced when they tasted the wines, but they cannot be coerced to like the wines. Winemakers can set the trends or benchmarks, but in the long run the market decides what it wishes to buy and consume. It is what the wine makes them feel or sense that constitutes its worth and could be greatly influenced by the social and narrative dimensions of the wine experience. À votre santé!
Cheers
George Wong, Wine MBA
Oenologue & Consultant
I could find a way to understand what she’s trying to say, I really could. But in order to do so, I would need to suspend my appreciation for aesthetics, oenology, hospitality, geology, agronomy, gastronomy, language, history, romance, and pleasure. I’d have to forget that these things matter, I’d have to forget the wonderful people involved in this industry, and above all, I’d need to ignore the concept of beauty.
Annette Alvarez-Peters’ comment says more about her than it does about wine, and what it says is this: Pity me.
What each of you who are in an uproar fail to understand is that she is not badmouthing wine, the experiance or the couture. She is simplily stating a simple fact. Her responsibility to Costco is to buy the best possible wines for the best possible prices and to objectively perform her function.
The fact that she is not a wine enthusist is a plus for her role in Costco. she is not a reason for wine costs to skyriocket as she buys objectively. With that said, I am happy she is in the position she is in, as it brings us the consumer, great wine for decent prices, and not infalted price levels.
She gets it – and so do we if we shop for wine at Costco
I agree, I enjoy shopping for wines at Costco. Costco provides a variety of wines at different price points while offerring them at reduced prices. Costco also prvides an outlet for wineries to convert their inventory to cash thereby economically assisting the wine producers. I also agree that that smaller regions and or wineries are not represented but that is where the specialty wine shops come in to play. Costco is providing a service to both wine producer and wine drinker.
Wow! This is a sad report for all wine lovers. She didn’t even have wine experience? It is just business, but I would like to have that job.
Mike Nedeau, Sommelier
Is she running for president?
Lars Jensen
Richmond Plains Wines
www.organicwines.co.nz
Jeremy Rocket (previous comment) has it spot on. We all need big volume outlets to get wine shifted, it’s one end of the spectrum of wine outlets. But don’t be disappointed, there is another end to that spectrum which will keep the wine lovers happy. Room for everyone.
Interesting and thought provoking article. However, while it may be true that she had no previous wine experience, this article neglects to mention that she is a WSET graduate and currently an MW student.
Victoria
youtube.com/slurpvision
Actually, toilet paper can provoke emotions too…..I remember a famous brand of toilet paper (in the US) whose slogan was to encourage people to squeeze their product !
Interesting article and comments – and hopefully, as Nick points out, there’s room for all ! And good luck to Ms Alvarez-Peters in her MW studies.
In our humble oppinion it is sad to see “Charmin” together with Château Mouton Rothshild and Château Pétrus in the same Costco isle. On the other hand have to say that in the last year Costcos “wine list” did greatly improve.
Cheers!
In countries that are historically wine-centric, their citizens have treated wine ‘as a beverage’, unpretentious by design. The U.S. has tried to emulate this view, but with little success. Why? I would argue that the harsh critics of Ms. Alvarez-Peters and others making similar statements have something to do with it. As ambassadors we strive to make wine and its’ appreciation accessible to anyone willing. Those that read this site are lovers of wine; we are passionate people that treasure the craft and skill involved. However, it shouldn’t make us fanatical, certainly at the expense of making the lay consumer or the new wine drinker fearful or downright intimidated. Furthermore, shame on the lack of presenting the whole picture by the writer of this article, implying that Ms. Alvarez-Peters is unqualified or aloof in her role. I might debate her stance as (paraphrasing) a ‘Costco employee, nothing more’ would be humility, not a display of ignorance or lack of interest. Were this Jancis Robinson or Oz Clarke uttering the words, I doubt we would see the same response.
In short, ‘Drink wines that matter, remembering that there are things that matter more than wine…’
Cheers,
William