M&S opens Prosecco bar in new West Midlands store

Marks and Spencer is tapping into the boom for Prosecco by rolling out a Prosecco bar and deli in its latest store.

The Longbridge store, which is opening in the former MG Rover plant in the West Midland, South West of Birmingham today, is set to be the retailer’s largest store in the area, at around 150,000 sq ft. It marks the completion of a ten-year project to rejuvenate the area, following the closure of the car plant in 2005.

According to a report in The Birmingham Mail, the dedicated prosecco bar and deli, which forms part of the 245-seater café, will serve the Italian fizz after 2pm for around £2 a glass if served with a plate of food, or £3.95 on its own.

Earlier this year, Longbridge store manager Mark Fruin said the business had wanted a site of this scale and quality “for years”.

Demand for Prosecco has soared in the last three years, with sales up 72% by value to £338 million the UK off-trade in the 52 weeks to 18 July, according to figures by IRI. Volumes also rose over the same period, up 78% to just over 37.3 million litres.

It is likely to remain high for “at least ten years”, a leading producer told the drinks business last month.

Although the quality of this year’s harvest is said to be very good and there is less concern on quantity than the poor 2014 harvest, the Prosecco DOC Consortium recently approved the “precautionary” adoption of a 2015 “harvest reserve,” to ensure continuity of supply through 2016.

Today the retailer revealed good sales across its food business in the half year to 26 Sepmtember 2015, noting that it outperformed a “highly competitive market”. Group sales were up 3.3% and like-for-likes also rose 0.2%, compared to overall group sales up 1.4%. The UK operating profit over the period was up 14.6% to £306.2m, it said.