Distributor’s latest launch reflects on-trade growth in low and no
A DRINKS distributor will ramp up its support for low and no-ABV products this year in response to what is said to be a growing market in the on-trade.
Cellar Trends, which distributes brands including Stolichnaya, Pusser’s Rum and Big Peat whisky, launched low-ABV wine Cosmopolitan Diva into the Scottish on-trade late last year.
The range of fruit-infused sparkling wines, which have an ABV of 5.5%, is produced by Luxembourg-based Amber Beverage Group.
Cellar Trends secured listings with wholesalers including Tennent’s, Inverarity Morton and Dunns Food & Drinks late in 2018 and subsequently sold more than six hundred cases in the first two months, according to brand manager Max Abbott.
The brand is aimed at women in their 20s looking to monitor both alcohol and calorie intake (each 125ml measure contains 78 calories).
Abbott said the typical Cosmopolitan Diva drinker will be “female consumers that enjoy socialising, time out in the on-trade, but are also conscious of the alcohol and calorie content they’re consuming”.
Target outlets, said Abbott, are “on-trade venues that want to offer a sparkling product that can be priced below £12 and still maintain really great margins”.
“What many on-trade outlets will have probably found with the boom in Prosecco is that everybody raced to the bottom to get the cheapest Prosecco price but, because of that, really squeezed their margins,” he said.
“We’re trying to offer our on-trade outlets a sparkling wine option that doesn’t have those squeezed margins.”
As well as looking to increase listings of the range, this year will see Cellar Trends support the brand with point of sale materials including branded flutes and ice buckets.
And Abbott reckons the low-ABV and low-calorie trend will continue in the on-trade.
“It seems more and more important to consumers,” he said.
“We are certainly preparing a great deal more content across all our brands for lower-calorie serve options. We’re doing a lot more with lighter gin and tonics, a lot more with simple serves with, say, soda water and fresh citrus juice.”
