Swirling a glass of wine used to be purely a romantic affair! Not anymore. Today, consumer behavior has undergone a fundamental shift. There's a growing awareness among consumers about their food preferences, leading to more informed choices. A significant emphasis on health consciousness and environmental impact is evident in recent years. Beyond captivating the senses with the aroma, flavors, and colors, consumers are keen on unraveling the veracity and authenticity that is getting poured into their glasses. These considerations must be taken into account when crafting a restaurant wine list.

According to research by FMI–The Food Industry Association and NielsenIQ, the perspective of transparency among current buyers in the food retail industry has evolved significantly, with 72% of respondents valuing transparency as “important and extremely important”. 

As per the survey, transparency and traceability plays a key role in building trust and loyalty. Around 79% of consumers place their trust in brands that furnish with clean, complete and easy-to-understand ingredient list. Further, 79% of consumers are more loyal to brands that provide in-depth information beyond the label.

Beyond the Bottle:

• Source of raw material: mentioning the vineyard and country of origin doesn’t suffice to quench the curiosity of today's wine enthusiasts. The grape variety, the climate in which it is grown, and the harvesting time and techniques hold utmost significance
• Winemaking method and techniques: there is a real demand among diners to know about the process adopted in wineries from crushing, fermentation, and aging to the supply chain
• Safety and wellness: with a shift towards a healthier lifestyle, concerns about pesticides and fertilizers and ingredients such as added sugars and preservatives are reshaping the perspectives of wine quality

• conscious consumerism: today’s consumer are sensitive towards ethical and sustainable business practices, prioritizing mindful consumption and hence, contemplating their choices. 
  

Not surprisingly, traceability has become an important aspect of today's dining landscape and should rightly be incorporated into your restaurant’s wine program.

3 ways to include traceability in your wine programs

• Carefully curated wine list with a comprehensive and precise ingredient listing should be the most crucial part of tracing the wine journey in an impactful way. Wine directors must set aside personal biases to create the best wine selection for a restaurant, adopting a data-driven approach that aligns with evolving trends in the industry.
• Wine education for servers can be the key to creating a first-rate dining experience. Empowering your staff to take charge and address customer queries requires training them on finer points and nuances of a plethora of wine varieties, in turn creating a better service experience.
• Integrating restaurant tech can seamlessly help wine curators quickly access and address the queries of customers. With information overload, digging up precise facts has become convoluted lacking visibility and traceability and eventually questioning transparency. A unified repository of restaurant inventory, wine lists, education materials, and a data-driven approach can go a long way in resolving the issue.
  
  
  

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At Sommcloud, we provide you with a restaurant ready wine list that can stand up to the best in the country. We leverage data, not opinions, to source wines that sell in your region, assuring your wine list is a powerful financial tool.