JON MORAMARCO: U.K. WINE INDUSTRY A “COMMODITY MARKET.”

Alcohol beverage companies, particularly wine, are having a difficult time with pricing in the U.K. – so much to the point that Constellation’s European head spoke openly against the discounts at a seminar last week.

Jon Moramarco, chief of Constellation’s European arm, said that the U.K.’s tendency towards deep discounting is causing the country to turn into a “commodity market” for wine. But it could partly be the wine producers fault for going along with the system for so long.

Moramarco cited the importance of establishing brands both on-premise and off-premise, but said companies must push away from the deep cut price promotions at the same time. It’s going to take hard work, though – primarily changing the entire British attitude towards discounts.

“The UK consumer is very discount-driven, but we have to change that mentality. To do that, we have to get restaurateurs thinking about brands, and we have to convince the multi-specialists that big is not ugly,” he said.

He admitted, however, that it would take a long time to shift the mindset of the consumers, retailers and restaurant-owners, pointing out that innovation in the wine industry should replace the pricing game in significance.