Pink Port launched to mixed reaction - [www.harpers.co.uk]

[Mario Ferreira]

Harpers
Your wine and spirit weekly | Issue 6318 | February 1 2008 | £3.95 | http://www.harpers.co.uk

PORTUGAL
Pink Port launched to mixed reaction

The launch of a pink Port aimed at female drinkers has been met with a mixed response from the industry – with comments ranging from “brilliant” to “patronising”.

The Fladgate Partnership, which has produced a Pink Port for Marks & Spencer, has been praised for trying to innovate a rather staid category, but those who have tasted it have been rather uncomplimentary.

Simon Field MW, buyer at Berry Bros and Rudd, who tasted it said: “It didn’t do it for me. It was a bit confected. You need more colour and extract to balance the alcohol.”

Fladgate will spend £50,000 on launching its second pink Port–Croft Pink – in Tesco in March, and hopes to sell 25,000 cases in the UK in its first year.

This is part of a long-term attempt by Port houses to rid itself of its association with Christmas and deep discounting, although Croft Pink will launch with a cutprice offer of £7.99.

Adrian Bridge, MD of The Fladgate Partnership, defended the offer: “I think it would be virtually impossible to launch a new product in any category without a trial offer. There’s nothing wrong with a £7.99 price point – it’s away from the £5 battleground,” he said.

Sainsbury’s expressed concern that at 19.5% abv, it might be consumed “like any rosé”.

But Bridge countered: “It’s the same abv as a Late Bottled Vintage or Ruby but it’s half that of a bottle of vodka. It’s a Port and consumers have to understand that.”

Other Port houses and UK retailers said they currently have no plans to introduce a pink Port.

[Derek T.]

I had the Marks & Spencer Pink Port, produced by Taylor Fladgate, yesterday amd I have to say it was absolutely horrible.

There was nothing about this that reminded me of port. It smells like a cheap white wine and is one of the very few ports that have actually made me wince and shudder as I swallowed it. The aftertaste is equally unpleasant but, unfortunately, is quite long.

If this is an attempt to attract a different audience to drinking port then I think TFP have missed the target badly.

Not good.

Derek

[Moses Botbol]

Sounds like a bad idea on all fronts. If you want women to drink port, target the marketing towards women with a port that tastes good. There's no need to make a new port, just educate or create an image that women can associate with.

Pink port... I would've thought that was a joke if you told me. What about just decent white port with a hip ad?

I bet eventually you'll homeless people drinking pink port in a bag as no one will be... Great job on sculling the Croft name...

[Andy Velebil]

Yeah, I don't agree with putting the Croft label on it either

I read a TN from someone at BBR (i think that was where he was from) that tried it and basically said the same thing as Derek.

I think this is the wrong way to go about getting people to try Port.

[Luc Gauthier]

One minute TFP buys 25% of the stock the Casa de Douro ( sound move )
and the next minute they waste £50,000 on Pink Port .
Even Napoleon made a few errors in judgement .

[Roy Hersh]

By no means is this the first attempt to launch a Port aimed directly at women. Who can come up with the name that was, actually, first?


Ultimately, if marketed and promoted correctly, a Port aimed to please palate's of women is a sound idea ... but the Port should be one of a high enough quality to actually have them want to come back and buy a 2nd bottle.

[Frederick Blais]

Back in 2006 when I was at Fonseca's lodges, I did see that bottle in the blending room. I was unable to have a sip nor more details. I was even asked to delete the pictures I had taken of it. It was a little secret in those days.

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... php?t=1664

[Michael M.]

Anyone here thinking that his wife would deserve this liquid?

[Andy Velebil]

Heres a pic of it

BTW, No idea what the Rose 17% is.

[Erik Wiechers]

Why oh why do they even think that women are attracted to the colour Pink. What marketing genius came up with this ? Do they still think that little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice ?
They have to come up with better ideas than that. I am thinking more about packaging and maybe, just maybe a colourful lable.

[Derek T.]

Anyone here thinking that his wife would deserve this liquid?

I do. But as I left her 7 years ago I don't think that counts

[Moses Botbol]

Why oh why do they even think that women are attracted to the colour Pink. What marketing genius came up with this ? Do they still think that little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice ?
They have to come up with better ideas than that. I am thinking more about packaging and maybe, just maybe a colourful lable.

The are going to package with a Porto Barbie doll with wine stain legs from crushing grapes.

[Erik Wiechers]

Moses Botbol wrote:

The are going to package with a Porto Barbie doll with wine stain legs from crushing grapes.

[Richard Henderson]

This reminds of the big ad campaign waged years ago by Beringer for its white zinfandel. It was later explained to me that they needed the cash from bulk wines to be able to produce their better vintage wines.

I have never been able to like that "white zinfandel" but I really like the Beringer cab and chard .
The "jug" wines support the wine industries in California and other wine growing regions of the world--so I am told.

This " blush port" may be a way for the port industry to get the profits they need to keep producing the finer ports we post about on this webstie.

[Derek T.]

One of the strangest things around this "Ponk" (my new name for Pink Port) is the timing of the launch into the UK market.

According to the label this has been produced "Exclusively for Marks and Spencer". It seems to have hit the shelves just 4 weeks after Christmas. Given the amount of shelf space M&S devote to port in December I suspect that they sell about 80% of the entire years supply in that one month. Why launch a new gimmick product just after the ladies have spent all their money in the January Sales and don't want to know about port for another 11 months

Bizzare.

Derek

[Richard Henderson]

Derek,

They are trying to create a market for those other 11 months. More power to them. I can't stand blush wines from Beringer but they and port producers have to make profits or the rest of the industry, whose woes are chronicled here, may disappear.

[Luc Gauthier]

Derek,

They are trying to create a market for those other 11 months. More power to them. I can't stand blush wines from Beringer but they and port producers have to make profits or the rest of the industry, whose woes are chronicled here, may disappear.

WHAT !! M & S are trying to create a market for the 11 month olds . . .
Shame , I tell you .
It will never work .
Ponk will not sell . . .

[Derek T.]

Richard,

I understand that bit. What seems odd is that they chose not to launch it in December when almost everyone walking through M&S for their Christmas food would have chucked a port of one type or another into their shopping trolley. If this had been on the shelf 6 weeks ago they would have shifted tens of thousands of bottles of the stuff across the UK and every housewife in the land would have been abble to try it - and then put the remainder of the bottle in a bolognaise sauce

It is no coincidence that the UK supermarkets have almost no special offers on port at this point in time. The reason being that no one is buying port in any real quantity, regardless of how cheap it is.

I think this has to go down as a major marketing blunder for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that is doesn't taste like port

Derek

[Michael M.]

... this "Ponk" (my new name for Pink Port) is the timing of the launch into the UK market...

Bizzare.

Derek

According to this unobstrusive colour, there was in creating this beauty perhaps some support from another industrie with identical first three alphabetic charakters but a different last one. No, it's not the porc industrie

[Roy Hersh]

This " blush port" may be a way for the port industry to get the profits they need to keep producing the finer ports we post about on this webstie.

My comments below will raise the ire of Alan C. and others who have commented in the past (paraphrasing) that I am a Port trade apologist, or at least take their side on many issues. Although I understand that perspective and how folks may gain that impression, the "spirit" (not to be confused with aguardente, as mine is less alcoholic) in which my POV is sometimes spewed here, is trying to explain my thoughts, while also looking at the rationale for what some producers/shippers are doing, sometimes with a slight advantage with inside insight.

Now with my preamble finished, on to the quote above and topic at hand.

Pink Port probably has very little to do with the color pink in particular and little girl's fantasies in general. It has far more to do with finding a taste and color profile that will appeal to women and sell bottles. Do you folks have ANY idea how many millions of cases of white Zinfandel was sold by Beringer, Mondavi and especially Sutter Home during the rage years? It would floor you!

I was dir. of purchasing and also responsible for buying wine for a an upscale restaurant chain (located in 5 west coast states) and my annual allocation locked in was 500 cases of the Mondavi version. We always sold more and kept having to up the quota.

We had a very heavily weighted Italian wine list (my design) with 52 listings + dessert wine list too. We had 22 wines BTGlass. We had many popular names including a few domestic wines and a couple of locals like Ch. Ste. Michelle (just a few miles away from our HQs). The White Zin was our best selling wine BTG. It had nothing to do with our list or pricing. This is what people, women mostly but some men too, chose to drink. I can not begin to explain why. Something about the sweetness would be my guess. Maybe the blush color?

Regardless, PINK PORT helps TFP reach out to a new market and begin to approach folks who may have never tried Port due to ingrained stereotypes or knowing nothing about its presence. I can assure you that they will do a good job in supporting PINK PORT with promo/ads etc. Just because it may not appeal to US, the vast majority of whom drink 10x more Port than the average earthling who enjoys Port (25x more for Andy/Derek/Alex/Sean and a few others here ) but that is not the demographic PINK PORT is intended for. PINK PORT is not going to wind up in your cellars, nor is it meant to.

You all seemed so open minded in our discussion of what the Port trade could do to attract younger Port drinkers. A brilliant thread with some great ideas, and I truly hope that the Port trade that does lurk here on FTLOP, may take some ideas seriously. Maybe the taste profile of PINK PORT is exactly what will appeal to the women, young 20-somethings etc.? I don't know and I have not tried it to be able to pass judgement on its flavor profile.

I can tell you that part of being a good Sommelier or person responsible for creating wine lists, is to be able to divorce one's own personal likes and dislikes and get a real feel for what their customers are seeking to buy. So putting wines on the list that you would never personally choose to buy, is not easy for some. Savvy marketeers in restaurants, hotels, clubs etc ... are very willing to put their own tastes aside with certain selections in order to sell more wine. Kendall Jackson Chardonnay or Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay are two excellent examples here in the USA. If you are doing a list and don't have either of these ... you are just plain dumb. KJ by the way, is the 2nd top selling name in Chard here, while SC is first on American wine lists.

Again, it is a matter of what consumers are willing to try. Easy to drink, fun looking (at least for women) and sweet ... works. I bet TFP did plenty of market research before launching this. Derek, if you don't think that it was with intent that this was launched in the UK AFTER the holidays ... then you don't have any understanding of Adrian Bridge. What you may see as a poorly laid plan, I would guarantee is a long thought out and intentional "launch strategy."

As far as wines like this supporting the Ports that we here on FTLOP tend to drink ... it probably won't be the PINK PORT that does that. Not for the foreseeable future but who knows? Maybe within the next 12 months this becomes a big hit. Never underestimate consumers. If the world's economy heads south this year, this could be a huge seller.

However, that premise (bulk or inexp. Port supporting the best) is spot on, just the names are different. The Taylor's First Estate and Fonseca Bin 27 go a long way to support that effort, with huge volumes of less expensive Port to bolster the grand scheme of sales. Trust me, if TFP could just sell their Special Category Ports like LBV, Tawny 10/20/30/40 and VP ... that would be their preference. That goes for them, the Symington's and the rest of the sharp players in the Port trade. That is where the best margins reside for them and their agents/importers/distributors world wide.

I'll see if Mr. Bridge would like to stop by here to comment.