Fetzer retains JD Wetherspoon house wine contract

The battle for the £80m house wine contract at JD Wetherspoon has been won by incumbent Fetzer despite the controversial efforts of drinks giant Constellation Europe to push its brands.

In July Matthew Clark -Wetherspoon's sole wine wholesaler and part of Constellation - was caught out trying to boost the sales of its parent company's brands when one of its employees sent Bristol's Evening Post an internal e-mail from managing director Steve Thompson.

In the e-mail, Thompson urged the firm's 300 employees to visit Wetherspoon pubs around Bristol to buy bottles of Nottage Hill and Echo Falls and charge them back on expenses.

The move caused controversy, but Constellation claimed its instructions had been misconstrued by Matthew Clark and it meant only to gain feedback on the wine-buying experience rather than inflate volumes.

Last week Wetherspoon's revealed that, while it has decided to retain the services of Matthew Clark as sole wine distributor, Constellation's brands had missed out on the house wine deal.

John Hutson, chief executive of JD Wetherspoon, said the incident had had no bearing on the group's decision. "We have four varieties of house wine and wanted a product that sells at £5 or less in supermarkets, as this is the price point where the majority of UK wine sales occur," he told Caterer. "We decided Fetzer remained the best fit."

Wetherspoon's, which will hold its first wine festival this November, is also spending £15m on a new "super-chill" beer system to satisfy consumers' growing appetite for colder draught beer. The Australian cellar technology frees up bar space while delivering beer at between 1°C and 3°C. This compares with an industry average of 6°C.

The high-street operator said turnover in the 53 weeks to 30 July had increased 5% to £847.5m. Pre-tax profit was 24% higher at £58.4m.

By Chris Druce