Dive Brief:

• Albertsons is growing its private label wines with the addition of a premium wine called the Vinaforé Collection, the grocer announced last week. 
• The new collection, which was curated by Curtis Mann, master of wine at Albertsons, in partnership with DC Flynt MW Selections, includes five varietals that cost between $14.99 and $21.99.  
• Albertsons is using a variety of online and offline tools, including shoppable recipes and pairing suggestions on the wine labels, with the goal of better engaging customers. 

Dive Insight:

The traditionally higher margins of private label coupled with the high consumer demand grocers have been seeing recently in their alcohol departments can make private label alcohol a particularly attractive avenue for grocers, especially as consumers continue to have their wallets pinched by high inflation.

The Vinaforé Collection includes a 2020 cabernet sauvignon from the Alexander Valley in California, a 2021 Napa Valley chardonnay, a 2021 pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast in California, a 2021 sauvignon blanc also from California’s Sonoma County and a 2020 Côtes du Rhône Villages from France. 

Customers can find the wines across Albertsons’ banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Shaw’s, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Tom Thumb and United Supermarkets. Albertsons is offering delivery of the Vinaforé wines from its stores by DoorDash or Instacart, the company noted. 

As Albertsons expands its private label portfolio, the supermarket company is fueling product discovery and meal inspiration. 

Mann, who joined Albertsons in 2020, said in the announcement that the wine labels include pairing suggestions to help customers discover which foods to couple up with the wine. Pairing suggestions are also listed on Albertsons’ website. 

Customers can find information about the winemaking process, taste profile and origin of each varietal in the collection on a dedicated webpage on Albertsons’ website. The grocer is also leveraging shoppable ingredients and recipes. For example, shoppers can find the Vinaforé Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon as a suggested drink for the steak au poivre with crispy fingerling potatoes recipe.

Albertsons’ focus on product and meal discovery both in-store and online comes at a time when grocers are increasingly investing in ways to provide meal inspiration and appeal to omnichannel consumers. Albertsons has also recently chronicled that it is leaning into digital features, like recipe and pairing recommendations, to better connect online and offline shopping. 

Albertsons’ private label wine portfolio includes Signature Reserve, O Organics and Kalyana wines, with California-based Kalyana’s sustainable wines being added in spring 2021. The launch of Vinaforé Collection is happening at the start of the winter holiday season — a time of year when retailers and their delivery partners have spotlighted their alcohol selection, such as Costco’s massive bottle of boozy eggnog. Instacart noted last year that, per its own data, wine was the first item added to baskets in 7% of all of the company’s deliveries during the 2020 holiday season.