What can we do to improve our wine offer and increase sales?
The Caterer - 30 March 2006

We run a 40-cover neighbourhood restaurant and have noticed our wine sales have fallen in recent weeks. What can we do to improve our wine offer and increase sales?

The solutions

Guy Holmes, Captivate Restaurants

Wine sales continue to grow both in the on- and off-trade in this country, so to benefit from the British public's increasing demand for wine I would recommend doing some of the following:

• Offer more wines by the glass. This will enable customers to be more adventurous and tempt them to try wines they might normally steer clear of.
• Include some information on the food menu about the wine list. For example, list a few recommended wines that would be the perfect accompaniment to a particular dish. 
• Make sure you stock a number of wines available by the half-bottle. These will be popular at lunchtimes, when people don't want a whole bottle. 
• Offer samples of your wines to customers to taste before they order a whole bottle. 
• Educate your existing staff and make sure any new staff members have a passion for wine. This knowledge and passion will rub off on the customers and lead to more wine sales. 
• Hold tasting evenings in the early part of the week, when customers can learn about wine as well as tasting some good examples of grape varieties.
• Have wine specials and promotions similar to how you might have food specials and set menus. You could also include wine in the price of a two- or three-course set menu. 
• Speak to your wine suppliers and get their help and advice in boosting wine sales. They will be able to help with special promotions and may give a limited amount of free stock for a particular promotion.