WINE BUYING
Waitrose is a multi-award-winning retailer for its English & Welsh wine range, with an offer of more than 110 wines available nationwide via shops and cellar. Waitrose first stocked an English wine in 2001. Marien Rodríguez said: “We take our role in supporting English & Welsh wines very seriously. We are proud to say that we sell a sparkling wine made from the grapes from Waitrose’s own vineyards on the Leckford Estate farm in Hampshire. This brings us even closer to the production side and provides us with firsthand information on each vintage’s conditions in this region, which is extremely valuable. “We are committed to continuing to support this industry and strengthen our position as a market leader in this sector. All styles are represented in our range, we even count an “English Nouveau” that is released seasonally.”
Waitrose
Waitrose wines mission can be easily summarised in a statement: “To be the UK’s best drinks retailer, by offering the range, expertise, quality and service of an independent merchant, with the convenience, value and consistency of a multiple grocer”. As explained by our Head of Drinks Pierpaolo Petrassi, the Waitrose brand stands for high quality, high service retail experience, and we consider this a commercial advantage.
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What is the profile of your customers?
“As communicated in the supplier conferences that we present every year, our growth has increased our reach, especially in the online space, but our customer demographic remains premium. We strive to support our customers by offering them great service in shops and online. We have an extensive team of WSET-trained specialists who advise and help consumers with their purchases. Moreover, we are now able to organise in-store tastings again which allows producers to directly interact with customers and this is a great sales and marketing tool to take advantage of.”
What are you looking for when considering new wines to list? “It is a requirement for any new supplier to meet the Waitrose technical and safety standards. This ensures that the product can be safely sold to our customers, and we fully support producers in completing this process successfully from a technical perspective. “Many factors are carefully assessed before considering the launch of new wines in our stores. We look at the quality, style, how the wine fits in with the overall range and product offer from the specific region of origin and the availability of space in our shops, among other considerations.”
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Marien Rodríguez, wine buyer for Waitrose, is responsible for buying English and Welsh wines along with Germany, Austria, Eastern Europe and Rest of the World. She gives her views to Vineyard.
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Meet the buyer
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Your background
“Wine has been an integral part of my life since a very young age. I spent part of my childhood in Rioja where I took part in viticulture and winemaking activities which sparked my interest in wine. It was not until later, however, that I decided to pursue a professional career in this industry. I pursued a Bachelor in International Business whilst working as a university teaching assistant. This was followed by a double Master in Supply Chain Management and Strategy & International Management completed in The Netherlands and Switzerland.”
How did you become a wine buyer?
“In 2018, I joined the Waitrose & Partners Supply Chain team and specialised in forecasting for ambient categories which was a highly valuable learning experience. Nine months later, I had the opportunity to start working as a wine buyer and I am now responsible for the wine portfolios of Germany, Austria, Eastern Europe & Rest of the World, England & Wales, and alternative Formats. Whilst working in this role, I completed the WSET Level 3 and the Diploma certificates.
What style, type, country’s wine, do you personally enjoy?
“I am lucky in that I truly enjoy any top-quality example of any given wine region of origin or style. I always try to remain open when buying wines as there are a lot of great examples to try. At the moment, I enjoy French, Spanish and Italian wines the most, perhaps, because culturally and from my personal experiences, I am closer to these regions, however, this might change in the future.
