What are bin end wines and what can I do to liquidate it?

This morning I received a mail from a reader. He works in a hotel as a beverage manager and wanted to discuss ideas to liquidate some bin end wines.

So what are bin end wines?

Usually you will buy wines by the case and after a few months of sales, you will be left with some bottles that does not move. It may be holding up inventory or money and you want to sell them.

But for what ever reason, either it is too expensive, got a bad review on some wine journal or in general is not moving because your team likes to sell something else.

All these wine bottles put together can be a major blockage of money.

So what can we do to liquidate them?

In this article, we look at a few ways

Wine of the day program

If you do not have a wine of the day program, explore the opportunity to start one. Get your team together, train them on the wine based on the label description or looking up information about the wine online and getting them to understand the wine.

Start with just one wine for the day and try and move it. Work slowly to train the team on the bottle and target one wine label a day.

Pretty soon, you will have sold many of the non moving wine from your list.

Wine on the table

This is a variation on the wine of the day, where you keep the wine prominently on the table. It hopefully helps impulse purchase of the wine and can help move the wine that you want to move.

However since the guest has the liberty to choose any other wine as well to pair with the meal, it is not necessary that the wine on the table should sell.

You may end selling wine, which is good for revenue but not for selling bin end wines.

Wine and Food Pairing

Invite a few guest for a wine and food pairing dinner and throw in these wines. These can be paid tables or a complimentary reception you put out for an occasion. Maybe to introduce a new menu or showcase a food festival.

While pairing food and wine, follow the general paring guidelines and then ensure that the meal goes well.

At the end of the evening, offer guest an option to buy some wine to take home with them.

Discounting

I kept this for last, but if nothing works, you may look at discounting the product and trying to sell it off. Sometimes the wine just does not move because of the price.

If your APC in the restaurant is lower than the price of the wine, chances are that product may not be a right fit for your restaurant.

Rather than holding on to dead inventory, and thereby blocking cash, discount and sell the wine bottle.

If you have been faced with wines that are not selling, what have you done to sell them in the past.

Let me know in the comments below.