Major supermarkets and other retailers are gearing up for intensified price competition for this year's Beaujolais Nouveau French wine ahead of its release at midnight on Nov. 17.
While Beaujolais Nouveau that comes in less costly PET bottles became prevalent last year, this year will see ever more heated price competition due in large part to the yen's appreciation. Despite the popularity of Beaujolais wines with a price tag of less than 1,000 yen, some are concerned that plastic bottles could only undermine its brand image and quality.
Major retailer Seiyu GK announced on Nov. 16 that it will retail PET bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau for 690 yen each, 59 yen cheaper than last year. The company had initially declared it would sell the wine for 890 yen last year, but lowered the price to 780 yen after major discount chain Don Quijote announced a plan to sell the wine for 880 yen. Seiyu further cut its price to 749 yen on the release day.
To avoid having its prices undercut before the release date again this year, Don Quijote will not unveil its pricing until shortly before midnight on Nov. 17.
Retail competitor Aeon has set the price of its Beaujolais Nouveau at 980 yen, the same as last year, while also launching a half-sized PET bottle version for 500 yen -- even cheaper than the 750-yen limited edition bottles the company released last year.
While glass bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau will generally be priced around 2,000 yen this year, with Suntory offering the wine at 2,300 yen and Mercian at 1,980 yen, PET bottles of Beaujolais come cheaper because of their light-weight -- about 30 percent lighter than glass -- resulting in lower transport costs, according to an Aeon official.
The spread of budget Beaujolais Nouveau has also contributed to reviving the wine's consumption. Suntory is importing 550,000 cases of Beaujolais Nouveau (each containing a dozen 750-milliliter bottles) this year, up 10 percent in volume from 2009 -- the first year-on-year increase in six years.
However, French producers are apparently frowning upon the heated price competition between distributors of their wines in Japan. Agroalimentaire Francais au Japon is concerned that the price-cutting could overshadow the principal aim of celebrating the year's first produce.
Last year, Inter Beaujolais, a producers' group in France, declared that PET bottles should be banned as containers for Beaujolais Nouveau, citing damage to the quality of the wine and its brand image. The group is intensifying its lobbying of the French government seeking a legislated ban on Beaujolais in PET bottles.
Japanese retailers are divided over their response. Mercian, which introduced PET bottle Beaujolais Nouveau last year, maintains that it has conducted sufficient tests to insure the PET bottled version is delivered to consumers at the same quality as the glass bottled edition, while a Don Quijote official says they have no choice but to observe the course of developments next year and beyond.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20101117p2a00m0na019000c.html
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