Percentage of premises offering smaller measure has doubled
By Gillian McKenzie
OPERATORS are being encouraged to up the availability of 125ml wine measures after the first phase of a campaign to promote their use saw the percentage of venues offering the smaller serve almost double.
Launched by the Scottish Government Alcohol Industry Partnership (SGAIP) – a collaboration between drinks firms, trade groups and the Scottish Government – in January, the initiative aims to encourage more licensees to make a 125ml wine measure available to customers.
Since the campaign launched, the percentage of premises offering the smaller serve is said to have almost doubled.
Now, more operators are being urged to back the voluntary initiative.
Special posters and tent cards to promote the availability of the 125ml measure are included with this issue of SLTN and readers have the chance to claim one of 50 free 125ml measures (see end of the story for details).
Mark Baird, head of industry affairs and alcohol policy at Diageo GB, encouraged more operators to back the initiative.
“This is a great opportunity for our industry to show what we can achieve on a voluntary basis without the need for regulation and prove that responsible drinking is high on our agenda and as important to us as anyone else,” he said.
“The response from the trade so far has been very promising and we’re now including additional customer communications materials in this edition of SLTN to encourage more licensees to get involved. You can also find more materials and ideas on how to promote the 125ml serve to your customers by visiting our website at 125mlwine.org.”
SLTA chief executive Paul Waterson also called on more licensees to make 125ml wine serves available.
“As a partnership we’ve worked very hard to get the message across and the figures are very encouraging,” he said.
“But we can still do more.
“It’s about consumer choice.
“We really want the wine offering to be small, medium and large, not just medium and large.
“It’s off to a good start but we’ve more work to do and we’ll continue doing it.”
Public health minister Michael Matheson welcomed the action by the trade to promote the smaller serve.
“The initial sales data following the launch in January is very encouraging and shows that the percentage of premises offering the 125ml wine measure has almost doubled,” he said.
“Clearly it is important that people have the ability to choose a smaller measure if they wish and by offering the 125ml measure, businesses are giving their customers the increased choice they are looking for and the opportunity to drink responsibly.”
• SLTN has joined forces with the 125ml campaign to give readers the chance to claim a free 125ml measure.
To be in with a chance email your name, venue name and address to sltn@peeblesmedia.com with ‘125ml measure’ in the subject line.
The first 50 will receive a measure.
