Many industries have had to change and adapt in the age of COVID-19, and one of these has been the wine business. Fortunately, they’re considered an essential service and have been allowed to continue operating, but many of the customers they normally sell to, such as restaurants and hotels, have been dramatically affected.
“The biggest ripple from the pandemic is caused by the demise of some restaurants,” says Rick Lopus, vice president of sales development for Great Lakes Wine & Spirits. “Since restaurants are suffering in terms of sales, that affects the wine business too. However, since retail stores are busier, it kind of balances out the overall consumption.”
As a wholesaler, and long-time family business, Great Lakes Wine & Spirits in Highland Park has a huge portfolio. They represent a large number of well-known brands such as Kendall Jackson, Gallo, and Sutter Home. They also sell esoteric wines that many restaurants like to have in stock, but those sales have declined.
“The recognizable brands have a lot of marketing power, but the esoteric stuff is typically represented by restaurants mostly because someone can hand sell it and explain it to you,” says Rick.
Since wine intimidates some people, there’s something to be said for the recognizability of the wine.
“There’s a mystery aspect to wine,” he says. “They’re named after foreign grapes that you can’t pronounce, and when a consumer sees something they recognize, we call them comfort wines. They say, ‘Oh, I know that one, it’s a safe choice.’”
During the last six months, says Rick, these comfort wines have far outpaced the regular wine business.
“Right now, people certainly don’t want to waste their money, so rather than buying wine X that may or may not be good, they’ll go out and by Duckhorn or Kendall Jackson or something like that,” he says.
Rick, who has been in the wine industry for over 40 years and with Great Lakes for 30, says the company has been very proactive in terms of implementing safety measures for its over 1000 employees as well as for its customers.
“Our owners were very proactive that we get everything right,” he says.
They provided PPE for all their staff who are working in the office and the field, and educated and trained them. They also encouraged many of their distilleries to start making hand sanitizer.
“Nobody could find it, so since they had all these raw materials in the buildings, we had five or six distilleries making hand sanitizer,” says Rick. “At first, we donated a bunch to first responders and hospitals. We gave it away because people really needed it, but then when we got caught up, we started selling it to restaurants and stores.”
People’s lifestyles and habits have obviously changed in this current environment and he says that, happily, wine is a beverage that’s typically shared and typically drunk at the table.
“Now that people have more family time, it’s a great opportunity to have wine and share the wine,” he says.
“Now that people have more family time, it’s a great opportunity to have wine and share the wine,” he says.