The Wine Monopoly w/ Trond Erling Pettersen, Vinmonopolet

Celebrating its 100th year in 2022, Vinmonopolet, the retail wine monopoly of Norway, is tasked with reducing overconsumption of alcohol while enabling a growing food and beverage culture in Norway. With over 32,000 selections, covering 95% of the population, and educating customers with podcasts and other programs, Trond Erling Pettersen, category manager, describes how the monopoly serves all segments of its customers and operates in a fair, transparent manner.  Support the show on Patreon!Detailed Show Notes: Vinmonopolet = “wine monopoly”~95% of the population lives w/in 30 min drive of a retail store340 shops>32,000 different products, >20,000 winesBasic range - ~1,000 wines, always on display in storesOrdering range - importers can stock anything, can be ordered from monopoly website or app, and have wines delivered or available for pickupStores can select ~25% of shelf space from the ordering range2021 - 118M liters of alcohol sold, 96M liters of wine (10.6M 9L cases) worth KR27B (~$2.7B) - taxes and profits go back to the governmentMonopoly’s purposeEstablished due to overdrinking at the turn of the 20th century - it was a source of poverty, hunger, and social issuesFounded in 1922 - 100th birthday in Nov 20221919 - ban on spirits1922 - created monopoly to have the responsible sale of alcoholRestaurants and barsBuy directly from importers and producers, do not go through monopolySome trends start in restaurants, then customers go to the monopoly to buyRestaurants have higher-end wines and often cellar winesWine sourcing>600 importers supply monopoly, needs to go through a supplier, no direct purchasing allowedOrdering range - free access to market, suppliers that list whatever they wantSpecial selection - high-end, allocated wines purchased for monopolyBasic range: It starts by looking at sales figures, trends, customer demands, and holes in the rangeConduct research by meeting with producers and importersDevelop a tender plan (tenders 2x/year) to outline what to purchase for the next year with very detailed specifications (e.g., max price, packaging, region, etc.)Get samples and conduct a blind tasting panel which is scoredLaunched in stores with guaranteed placement for one yearWines then compete based on sales volumeAn extensive and fair processPricing - uses a standard formulaAverage wine - ~50% taxes, ~10-15% monopoly margin, ~35-40% supplier shareMonopoly provides calculators for suppliers to set pricingPricing transparency on the websiteSecondary marketStarted auctions ~10 years ago for people to trade winesMonopoly has people that value and inspect winesSet % fee for monopoly margin (lower than US auction houses)Partnered with an auction house Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.