The Co-operative launches premium Fairtrade wines

Published: 22 November, 2011

After growing its Fairtrade wines category to account for two thirds of fairly-traded wines sold in the UK, the Co-operative is launching a new premium tier of wines priced £7.99.

Maria Elener, Fairtrade buyer, told Harpers that it has built a loyal customer following which has allowed it to introduce more premium wine and price tags.

Its original aim was to shift large volumes of wine in order to make a difference to producing communities, said Elener. Back in 2004 it stocked wine at £3.99, but now entry level starts at £4.99.

In the past six years, £1.8 million has been returned to the Fairtrade projects, 40% of which has been in the form of additional contributions from the Co-operative.

Head of BWS at the retailer, Paul Bastard, said dealing in Fairtrade wine was "massively complicated", but worth the effort.

The group started with five South African wines and now has 17 skus - two sparkling wines, two 3-litre boxes, the entry-level £4.99, singel varietals at £5.99, reserve at £6.99 and now the £7.99 premium range. It now runs seven projects - two in Chile, one in Argentina and four in South Africa.

The move to the premium level also took time given most participating wineries were not producing premium wines. "It's a contradiction in terms," said Elener, adding that if they'd had the money, expertise and equipment to make premium wine straight away they probably would not have opted to join the Fairtrade programme.

"One or two bodies always said, 'you're too cheap', but the point was to get it selling. We didn't want to go into it half-heartedly," said Bastard.

The pair felt other retailers should do more to promote the Fairtrade category. "If we can do it, they can do it," said Elener. "The wine trade may be nonchalant about it, but customers really want to help," she added.

The group's Fairtrade wine range is growing faster than its wider wine category, and the retailer is working hard on how to best communicate the story. It plans to put QR codes on its labels from next year.

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