Discount store focus on wine: an MD case study

Last January, the brand presented its Enotrium line, a local ‘family’ of selected wines to make high quality choices accessible in the world of wine as well.

If you say ‘discounter’, you immediately think of PLs, which represent the pillar of this channel, even in wine. At the heart of the brand’s proposal, there’s the desire of “giving the client the confidence to buy a high quality, value-for-money product.” The MD discount chain, which designed an important private label wine project, is no exception. Giuseppe Cantone, Sales manager at MD, had already announced, in October 2021, during a workshop held by Vinitaly of Verona, that the wine department would have been the protagonist of a fine market development: “The consumer should choose to go shopping in MD for wines as well,” he had explained.

So, last January, the brand presented its wine line Enotrium , a ‘family’ of local wines selected by MD to make the choice of high quality products also accessible for wine. In fact, the local grape variety, cultivated and spread in its area of origin, reflects a strong relationship with the territory, its traditions, and inhabitants.

On Monday 3rd April 2023, at the traditional round table of Vinitaly on wine and Modern Distribution organized by Veronafiere Marco Usai, Wine Specialist at MD, confirmed the preliminary results of the actual ‘revolution’, in which, over the last two years, the MD wine section has been in- volved. “The negative effects of the complex situation recorded in 2022 has affected the shopping habits of consumers, with negative repercussions also for wine. Nevertheless, MD continues to record great performances in the wine industry, confirming its effective strategic choice: diversification of the supply to make its wine section, not a secondary element, but an important pillar of the discounter world, which contributes to increase loyalty and attract new clients.”

An attainable objective also thanks to a precise strategy applied to wines: give the client the confidence to buy a high quality, value-for-money product. This quality is confirmed not just by continued research on premium and current products, but also by a strict Protocol of chemical-physical and organoleptic analysis, which results in hundreds of controls over the presented wines.

“Welcoming the migration of clients coming from supermarkets also means being responsive and ready to follow new trends. In line with the context of the market, in fact, MD recorded great results in the dry sparkling wines and Igt rosé wines segments, showing its capability to adapt to new market dynamics and to meet consumers’ needs once more” Usai concluded. l

Enotrium Labels

• Albana Romagna Docg

• Corvina Verona Igt

• Frappato Terre Siciliane Igt

• Lucido Terre Siciliane Igt

• Malbo Emilia Igp

• Spergola Emilia Igp

• Susumaniello Salento Igt

• Zibibbo Terre Siciliane Igt

Coming soon:

Cococciola Brut Terre di Chieti Igt

Coda di Volpe Sannio Doc

Greco nero Calabria Igt

Pallagrello bianco Campania Igt

Pallagrello nero Campania Igt

IT’S NOW DANIELA ANTONIUZZI, AT I.C.E.FOR VICE PRESIDENT, TO TALK WITH PL MAGAZINE .