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Paola Tich: Back to Business Q&A

Paola Tich, owner of Vindinista, continues our series with insights into the biggest changes and challenges.

How is the business performing and what are sales like compared with pre-lockdown?

If you'd asked me this in April or May, I would have said 'booming'. We were up almost 50% compared with the year before in terms of revenue. Of course, we spent more to meet the demand - but we also whittled down some of our suppliers. Now that we're in August, it feels pretty much like any other August, except that more people are holidaying in the UK and stocking up with us before they go - not filling up their cars in France and telling us how much cheaper wine is over there...  we're also closed on Sundays now. We rather enjoyed having them off during lockdown. Online has more than made up any loss.

We've also started serving drinks again, on the small terrace outside the shop. We've half the number of seats compared to last year (we can safely seat up to 12). We're not going to retire on this, but it is nice to be able to offer it again. We also have a pizza pop-up. Jazz bassist Tim Thornton (who is a pizza obsessive) started his own venture during lockdown to raise money for NHS charity, and he's doing four nights a week at ours. Most people who come for drinks stay for pizza. 

What are the biggest changes and challenges in adjusting to the ‘new norm’?

We've stopped customers being able to browse in our small shop. And wearing masks of course. So hand selling has got harder. Sometimes I feel like a traffic marshal when one customer comes in to buy, one comes to click and collect and we are trying to serve people outside. Thankfully, people are pretty understanding.

We've also lost the try-before-you-buy advantage a good by-the-glass menu offers. We're using kegs (from Uncharted) - there'd be too much wastage otherwise.  People can order a bottle, but if we can't offer a taste, they'll generally play a lot safer.

I've seen other merchants doing great tastings via Zoom and Instagram Live, and we plan to do some in the Autumn. I just didn't have the appetite doing any during lockdown as we were on skeleton staff and slammed with deliveries. And then we build a whole new website. And then we started drinking outside again, and all the processes that entails. Now it is summer, and a lot of people are away. Unfortunately, we won't be moving drinking-in back inside this year as things stand. It's just too risky. We're too small.

Which government measures, if any, have had an impact on your business?

We furloughed our other full-time member of staff. He came back on flexi furlough in July. The £10k from the government made sure we could pay many suppliers early - we know how many were affected by the collapse of the restaurant trade. It also meant we've still been able to pay our VAT as normal. The 5% VAT band barely affects us - just for snacks when people are drinking in - but we are passing this on.

Have you seen any significant shift in type and price of wines and spirits sold and, if so, what? 

In the first weeks of lockdown, people were definitely buying from the under £12 range - and we narrowed down our range accordingly. Then people began treating themselves more. Obviously, now it is rosé, rosé.. I've also noticed an uptick in sparkling wines and the components for Negroni - we sell Quaglia's Berto range from Astrum which make a seriously good drink.

Covid-19 has ignited discussions around health, not least the government’s anti-obesity campaign which could see mandatory ‘hidden calorie’ content on alcohol labels and menus in the on-trade. In your view, what would be the impact of this? 

I'd welcome more transparency in wine - in retail, at least. There's so much bullshit out there, especially from the wellness industry, which appears to be leading the narrative. People should be more aware of what is in their glass (and - indeed - how all wine is not created equal). Having said that, anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that alcohol is usually restricted, or cut out, and there's a reason for that. 

I think for on-trade, it would add a layer of complexity and I, for one, don't want to be discussing the calorie value of one wine versus another. I'd rather discuss taste.

And what of other government-backed schemes like the Eat Out to Help Out initiative, on the health of the trade? 

It's good to see places busier on less popular nights - and hopefully, it'll bring some much-needed cash in. But I'm worried it's a short term fix. It's not something we are really involved in.

The end to the Brexit transition period is just around the corner on 1 January. How have you been preparing during and post-lockdown?

We made our big change in 2019, giving up the shop we had and merging with our wine bar across the road. Our lease was up and we just didn't want to risk signing for another three-six years. So now we try to run a leaner machine so we can adapt more quickly to whatever is thrown at us. But with so much still unknown about how wine imports will be impacted in 2021, it's hard to make firm plans. Not ideal.

Have the past few months led to any positive change that the trade can and should adopt going forward? 

I'm not sure that everyone will see this as positive, but a halt to the enormous number of trade tastings could lead to a recalibration of how new wines are introduced to different segments of the trade. I'd be happier to do more Zoom sessions with small taster samples from suppliers. Much easier to fit into my day. More targeted. 

Lockdown also threw into sharp relief how a lot of suppliers see retail. It was interesting to see who was prepared to throw their retail customers under the bus and go head-head-head on pricing directly to consumers instead, perhaps, of looking at ways to leverage existing B2B relationships and push more stock through those channels. Of the suppliers I work with who got it right, Graft offered some great wines on promo and Alliance - once the initial shock was over - were very on keeping us updated on the situation from their end. So perhaps a review of the value of retail could be a positive thing, and a bit more understanding from both sides on the pressures we are both under.

Covid-19, recession, Brexit, climate crisis – we’re living though extraordinary times – what will the biggest challenges for the drinks trade going ahead? 

That's a tough one to answer. All of the above in terms of macro threats. Plus the wellness industry (which seems to think sugar and sulphur are bigger evils than alcohol). From my perspective, I think finding good wines that you can put on the shelf for under £12 while maintaining margin will continue to get tougher - even on wines we import ourselves. I'm not just talking about Brexit. I imagine the duty escalator will kick in again - something has to pay for what's happened in 2020 - and wine is an easy target. Here's hoping that a lot of people will trade up - and adopt the "drink less but better" mantra. I'm also concerned that we may lose some of the great diversity we have in wines in the UK if tariffs and paperwork make the costs too punitive.

• wine
• Brexit
• Coronavirus
• Covid-19
• Paola Tich
• Vindinista