Prowein is like Glastonbury

There has been a lot of talk this week about Prowein vs LIWF and some comparisons have been made - here's mine. Prowein is like Glastonbury - it's big and busy with great headline names. London is more like Latitude - local, smaller, more intimate, less commercial but sill some great acts. Of course when every pound spent needs to deliver a return, can you afford to be at both? I'm the first to admit that I love London but I'm also seriously impressed by Prowein and the sheer weight of its influence. In an ever increasing global world, size speaks and London either needs to carve out a niche or it won't survive as the return on investment for exhibitors just won't add up. London needs to think about the market it serves. It isn't global and it shouldn't aim to be. It serves her UK trade remarkably well; but is that a market that could just as easily be served elsewhere? Like Germany?

Posted by Nicky Forrest

Why chow now?

Whilst I’m sure there are very few of us who actually celebrated Chinese New Year on Monday with some crispy duck, a few spring rolls and a bottle of Tsingtao, it has got me thinking about the future for Asian cuisine in the UK. Our high streets seem to indicate we’re a nation obsessed with Italian…Strada, Prezzo, Carluccios, Zizzi to name a few. And yet according to a recent survey by Food Network UK, Chinese stir-fry has just taken over as the nation’s favourite dish. Should we therefore be weeping that our high streets are bereft of any major players in Chinese cuisine? Or should we be celebrating the little sticky boxes of rice and tubs of gloopy gelatinous sauces peppered with a few pieces of unidentifiable meat that are churned out of the kitchens of our local Chinese restaurants?

It’s safe to say we should probably stick to a little bit of home cooking if we want some fresh and tasty wonton soup or a bok choy stir-fry. So, to Amazon for the perfect Chinese cookery book and what do you find? Ken Hom (there’s no denying he’s the king of Chinese cooking but surely he’s not alone?), Ching-He Huang (no doubt a woman with passion). And then? Then, we get no more than two pages in to the search results and I’m bored already from looking at the kind of books that are in the back row of my doubled-parked cookery books, the ones covered in that dusty grease from years of sitting untouched above the cooker. 

So, what is the future for Chinese food? Two decent cookery writers and maybe the odd M&S Chinese ready meal? Let’s do something about this. Watch this space for a few Chinese experiments from the Phipps team.

Posted by Liz Lock

Fanciful wine predictions or genuinely new?

In the year when the greatest show on earth, the Olympic Games, will come to town, and England yet again hopes to triumph at the UEFA European Championships, when celebration could or should be sweeping the country, what will we be drinking in 2012?

Adrian Tierney-Jones from the Telegraph suggests it could be the year craft beers continue to come of age, wine cocktails will open up new frontiers of flavour and we’ll be drinking at “pop up bars”. So if you’ve got a taste for the slightly more exotic or you’ve ever wondered how to make your own beer, cider or fruit wine, then 2012 could be the year to try out your own DIY tipple-making creations. During the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Gin made from 10 carefully selected botanicals or a wine cocktail blended with vodka and Chardonnay could even take your fancy!

These predictions might sound a bit far-fetched, but when looking at the pub scene, Adrian suggests a rejuvenated consumer interest in 2012 propelled by renewed interest and availability of quality real ale and craft beers to offset the issues faced in the sector. The growth and strength of so-called ‘craft beer bars’ such as Cask in London and Port Street Beer House in Manchester suggest he’s hit the nail on the head with that one.  

One certain prediction for the year. 2012 will be challenging for the drinks sector! The state of the economy means maintaining let alone increasing market share will be occupying brands. Enticing cash strapped consumers to part with their money will mean consumers balance quality and price more than ever before. The drinks industry will need to keep their audience of sippers happy by offering innovative options and value-oriented choices without compromising quality. Here’s to hoping an austere New Year moves over to a summer of celebration.  

Posted by Shelly Murphy

Do low alcoholic drink options compare?

New Year’s resolutions, (especially as an attempt to cut down our drinking consumption) are a bit like babies. They are fun to make but extremely difficult to maintain. As consumers look to embrace a healthier lifestyle this year and our MPs give guidance on alcohol intake, the channel growth for premium quality, lighter style alcoholic drink options is set to increase in 2012.

As most experts within the drinks industry would agree, implementing change to a traditional-minded sector is never without risk, especially within the off-trade. But as an active supporter of Drinkaware, it’s good to see that Sainsbury’s has taken on the challenge with a move to increase Responsible Drinking this year. 

As a collaborative initiative, Sainsbury’s is working with Drinkaware, Diageo and Heineken with the aim of giving consumers a better understanding of alcohol units and calories across a wide range of wines, beers and spirits which will also include sampling, enabling customers to try lighter wines and alternative serve sizes of spirits and beer. Aiming to double sales of lighter alcoholic wine by 2020, Sainsbury’s responsible drinking campaign will highlight the variety of lighter style wines that are available (abv of 10.5 or less).

But do these low alcoholic options compare? Honestly, yes. It’s a great alternative to its big brother and bound to appeal to an increasingly health conscious and savvy consumer.

Posted by Shelly Murphy

Why food trends are hard to digest

The first week of January wouldn’t be complete without considering the predictions of what we’ll be eating and where we’ll be dining over the next 12 months.

Passions for food, and an appetite for new experiences, reached new levels in 2011 with the arrival of dozens of pop-up ventures, new restaurants and destinations, so how can trends keep emerging in a market where now almost anything goes as long as it tastes good? Ironically, it could be argued that the predictions drive the trends rather than the other way round. Take for instance the predicted trend for pickling. Would we really be rushing out to buy herring and vinegar, or vats of pickled walnuts at the farmers market, if we hadn’t been told that we would? It will inevitably become a trend, big or small, if the media says it will. 

Had Noma not been named World’s Best Restaurant – originally a successful marketing initiative from Restaurant Magazine - two years running, it is unlikely the media would have paid any attention to Scandinavian cuisine. However, a 12-page feature on Nordic cuisine in this month’s Delicious magazine shows there’s no doubt the media believe in this trend. 

Take sustainability in 2011 as the prime example. Hugh brought us the second instalment of Fish Fight on Channel 4 and we showed concern about the fish we were eating. But are consumers still concerned now or was it simply a trend that came and went alongside the media coverage? 

We may well see a rise in demand in 2012 for salt beef, English veal meatballs and salted caramel but who’s to say it’ll consumer demand rather than the presence in the media?

Posted by Liz Lock

If Willy Wonka had a Facebook page...

Thanks to the social web, you can now share anything with anyone anywhere in the world. The trend toward shared experiences online is being replicated offline and its impact can be felt in how we are choosing to eat. The rise of the ‘big night in’ has also placed greater emphasis on the need to provide products to capitalise on the desire to share.  This has given birth to a phenomenon of sharing which has been driving success and innovation in the confectionary category. Out-of-home snacking has dropped by almost 16% over the past 12 months. Kantar usage data shows in-home confectionery occasions are growing 3.4% year-on-year driven by in-home snacking – up 6.2%.

It’s an area in which chocolate brands are faring particularly well with value sales of sharing bags up 9.6% and volume up 8.3%. The sharing of ideas, opinions, media and status updates are all part of what makes social media a powerful force, and this is especially relevant for brands. Adding sharing options to content in online media can lead to more page views and better status in search results.

And with its sponsorship of London 2012 next year Cadbury has perhaps the biggest opportunity to capitalise on the spirit of sharing. In September Cadbury launched an £8m Keep Team GB Pumped campaign inviting consumers to record motivational power training songs via a webcam and share them online. Their Spots & Stripes campaign has also sought to encourage consumers to get involved in competition with their peers and communities. We’ll be watching with interest to see their next move as the games approach. 

Spotlight on Grape Choice

Here at Phipps, it’s pretty obvious to state that we’re all interested in food and drink. However, this extends far beyond the four walls of our pink and white office, with many resident bloggers in our midst. Today we kick-off by chatting to Junior Account Executive and blogger Jen Gevaux (over a glass of wine, of course).

Hi Jen, tell us about yourself and the blog in 40 words

Fresh out of university, I joined Phipps as an intern in June, and then joined the team permanently in October. I’ve been an ardent blogger since February 2010 and posts can range from product reviews and food and wine matches, to travel anecdotes and informative pieces.

So why blog?

Grape Choice is all about making wine (and other drinks) accessible to those with a limited knowledge of wine. At university, I was quite new to wine, but when I came across a wine I liked or an offer that couldn’t be missed I wanted to let others know about it. Since then, my knowledge has extended (thanks to working in the industry and completing the Wine and Spirits Education Trust intermediate course) and I’ve started to be more adventurous with my choices.

Do you think blogs like yours can help the wine industry to become more accessible to consumers?

The wine aisle can be rather daunting for many people, especially when it comes to choosing a wine for someone else or when trying to impress at a dinner party. Grape Choice is my way of making it a little easier. I’m not an expert (yet) and I believe that taste is subjective – just as some people like olives and anchovies whilst others can’t stand them, the exact same can be said for different wines.

To what extent is your blog influenced by current food and drink trends?

Quite often trends dictate what we should and should not choose to eat or drink (How many of you have tried your hand at baking cupcakes over the last few years?). So many such trends can be really alienating, so although I like to keep up-to-date with what’s hot right now, Grape Choice tends to put aside those trends – my philosophy is if you like it, drink it.

By Sara Evans

Rioja – getting behind the bottle

Rioja is one of the most loved and best known wine regions amongst UK wine drinkers but how many of them know what goes on behind the scenes at every winery to achieve Rioja’s trademark integration of fruit and oak?

 I’ve been lucky enough to get to know Spain’s most famous wine region on four press trips this year. Seeing the landscapes and soil, and getting first-hand accounts from the people on the ground in the vineyards and wineries gives you a real appreciation of the painstaking work that goes into producing each bottle that ends up on UK shelves and wine lists. At any given time around 1.2m barrels of wine – one of the highest concentrations in the world - are carefully ageing in oak before being stored in bottles at the winery until they are released to the market ready to drink. The sheer volume of wine is striking – from underground labyrinths of tunnels lined with bottles under the town of Haro to the world’s largest barrel room at Campo Viejo, millions of litres of wine are stored across Rioja.

Whether the winery philosophy is traditional and steeped in history, such as Muga, which to this day employs an in-house cooper to make the barrels, or ultra-modern, such as Baigorri, an extraordinary construction reaching seven storeys underground to ensure that every step of the winemaking process can take place using gravity, with no need for pumps, no expense is spared in ensuring that optimum quality is preserved from the vineyard right through to the bottle that ends up on the wine merchant shelf or restaurant wine list here in the UK.

Posted by Lottie West

Christmas is coming – make or break for Grand Marques?

Alcoholic drinks are always big business for the major retailers, but there’s no more important time in the retail calendar than Christmas, when we all treat ourselves to a bit of what we fancy (in my case, Bailey’s, vintage Champagne and mulled wine – not all together I hasten to add). With competition amongst the supermarkets fiercer than ever with their well-publicised price matches, we’re set to see another bumper year of drinks offers this Christmas. This is obviously great for consumers, but what is this doing to big brands’ equity?

Champagne brands have suffered a lot in recent years as half-price promotions have become commonplace in the wine aisle at Christmas. The effects on the sparkling wine category are now becoming evident, with supermarkets’ ranges now full of wines in the £8-15 bracket, including a plethora of cavas, proseccos, and New World fizz including the latest craze, Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc (commercial genius, that one!). Champagne still has its spot on the shelf but now its cut-price supermarket exclusives on offer at £15-£20 that take pride of place on gondola ends rather than top brands at full price. In this environment, how can luxury brands such as Veuve Clicquot, Moët and Bollinger persuade customers to part with £30+prices?

With a double dip recession on the cards for next year and voucher culture gripping the nation, the Grandes Marques are going to need pull out all the stops with engaging, creative and innovative marketing campaigns to maintain their loyal fan base. If they don’t 2012 may be a somewhat challenging year for the Champagne region. 

Posted by Lucy Richardson

Supermarket price wars and the big picture

We Brits have always had a schizophrenic relationship with food and today is a prime example of that dichotomy. On the same day the FT, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and the Daily Mail report on the UK’s frankly shameful £12bn food waste, the BBC (video) reports on the ‘austerity sandwich’ - two slices of bread with another slice of bread in-between. Surely £12bn could buy a slightly more exciting filling. Meanwhile the supermarket price war is being cited as a reason for falling inflation figures, which in this economic climate must be a good thing.

What the headlines don’t tell you is that neither the food waste nor the retailers’ discounting is sustainable. Food has been (too) cheap and plentiful for many of us for a long time. We need to remember that the global population is growing at such a rate that traditional farming can’t quite keep up. International grain prices have gone through the roof and combined with droughts, floods and now global warming we’re seeing falling agricultural yields just when they need to rise. It can’t be a coincidence that there have been food riots in more than 30 countries. Food security is becoming a concern for everyone. All of a sudden throwing out perfectly okay food is not just a problem for individual households in the UK. 

Posted by Toby Schuster