The Lair of Bacchus took the profession by surprise. “We stop the wine fair”, Paolo Bouca Nova, purchasing director for this brand which has forty wine merchants in Ile-de-France, announced in a press release in June. A decision matured for three years. “The large distribution created the wine fair to find a place in a market that escaped it, and wine merchants followed to align themselves, he explains. It is time to break this dynamic. We wine merchants must find an alternative, a moment specific to our profession. Because we will never be able to align with the promotions of supermarkets, which have margins close to zero during the wine fair. ” Le Repaire de Bacchus will nonetheless maintain a promotional campaign during the start of the September season, which it calls the “harvest festival”. The idea is to stand out from supermarkets, but the principle is still close to a wine fair …
“It’s a meeting point where we can talk about wine, highlight a specific selection. »Louis de Montille, from the Nysa cellars
So, to go or not to go to the fair when you’re a wine merchant? The question always divides. In a survey published in 2019, 50% of the wine merchants questioned declared having organized a promotional event in September. Whether it’s a wine fair … or a wine fair. This proportion has been stable for several years. “Some colleagues are doing the wine fair because they have found a formula that works well. Others have tried for a few years and, in view of the results, no longer organize it ”, notes Jean Guizard, president of the Federation of independent wine merchants and wine merchant in Montpellier. The latter threw in the towel after three editions. “ I had two very average years, with only 3% more sales than the other months. The only one that worked coincided with the 70th anniversary of the cellar, because I was doing activities around the event. “
The key to success, according to Jean Guizard, is to bring winegrowers into the shop, to offer evenings, oenology courses … “ Many colleagues are fiercely opposed to fairs, preferring to sell all year round at the right price, without crushing either the producer or his margin, while regularly practicing favorites or promotions of the month. “
At the head of Nysa, Louis de Montille no longer asks himself the question. His young chain – he created it in 2006 -, already with 59 stores for the most part located in Ile-de-France, has been practicing the wine fair since its inception. This year, it stands out with a 100% organic offer (certified or in the process of being converted): “Unlike large-scale distribution or certain online sites which make 30% of their annual turnover over this period, it is only 8% for Nysa, specifies Louis de Montille. My fair is not intended to generate volume and does not constitute a commercial opportunity. Our customers rarely have cellars so they won’t buy to store all year round. It is a meeting moment where we can talk about wine, highlight a specific selection. “