Majestic launches its first entry-level own-label range

Majestic is setting its sights at supermarket rivals as it launches its first entry-level own label range.

The new ‘Majestic Loves’ range is intended to be “the best possible wine under £6”, a spokesman said, and came in response to increasing demand at that price point.

Currently, around 80% of wines in the UK off-trade are sold for £6 or less, according to Nielsen and the Wilson Drinks Report, but Majestic admitted that this was becoming harder to source wines at this level, due to currency fluctuations on the back of the Brexit vote, as well as rising duty that will kick in as a result of last month’s Budget.

As a result, it said it had set out to find the best wine to sell for £5.99 “regardless of what has happened in the market”, and although it didn’t necessarily intend to be “alternative”, it has adopted greater flexibility with sourcing, using a mixture of new and existing suppliers.

“We saw that there was real demand for wine at this price point and that we could better serve that customer by putting some real effort into a new range that caters just for them,” a spokesman told db. “We’ve therefore been flexible with our souring so for example we have a Romanian Pinot Grigio which the buyers decided was the best quality at that price point.”

Six wines will are being released this month, but the full range comprises ten wines in total, which Majestic is hoping to roll out by June.

The first wines to be released include a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a Pinot Grigio from Romania, a Spanish Red from La Mancha, which is being touted as an “alternative to a young Rioja”, and a Chardonnay from the Robertson area of South Africa, a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. The Hungarian Gruner Veltliner, an Australian Shiraz and a rose from the South of France will follow, with a Sicilian Fizz completing the line-up.

‘Majestic Loves’ is intended to complement the existing own-label Definition range, which was launched in September 2015 to reflect a “quintessential” wine style in the mid £7-14 prices range, which has since grown to become a £7m brand.

The retailer said it had been planning an entry level range since it launched its first own-label range Definition in September 2015, with planning starting in earnest around a year ago.

The move is the latest in a series of moves from Majestic to boost its competition with the multiples, while also seeking to differentiate itself, as it recovered from a period of decline. Following its acquisition of Naked Wines, new CEO Rowan Gormley embarked on a major overhaul of the retailer, scrapping its six-bottle minimum “barrier” and slashing the single bottle price on around 500 lines. It also abandoned expansion plans, concentrating on refitting and re-ranging stores better to make them easier and more appealing to shop in, as well as boosting its online ambition with next day and timed delivery. It also revived its commitment to exclusive parcels of wine last summer by stocking a revolving series of one-off parcels to give customers a rapidly changing range of exclusive wines, as well as expanding its revamped Parcel Series wines.

Following Naked Wines upping the price of some of its products, the retailer refused to rule out price increases in the wake of falling sterling and currency fluctuation, last November.

CEO Gormley has also previously criticised the increasing commoditisation of wine ranges, saying they are becoming “more like baked beans and less like wine”. He argued that Majestic’s focus was “to do what we do best and do it better than anyone else” by retaining an exciting and innovation range, and having “great people in store who can sell our wines”.