“The Christmas period is, quite rightly, seen as a key time for sherry sales”, explained brand manager Joanne Smith, “but the challenge does not stop there. Our strategy continues to be one of de-seasonalisation and our focus in the coming months is to encourage Harveys® Pale Cream consumers to find new drinking occasions. Pale Cream is a lighter, fresher style of sherry that can be enjoyed as an apéritif or as an accompaniment to light summer dishes such as olives, almonds, asparagus and salads with vinaigrettes. Encouraging our consumers to experiment with sherry as an accompaniment to food supports our ongoing strategy of de-seasonalisation and helps show consumers that sherry is not just for Christmas, or indeed not just for cold nights in front of the fire!”
A complex blend of finos, amontillados and olorosos, Harveys Pale Cream is skilfully aged and blended from the very best Jerez wines. The result is a wine with a light smooth character and a fresh clean taste, slightly dry and crisp on the finish – making it an ideal summer drink.
ADUK undertook an extensive national sampling programme in around 350 Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores during November and December 2004 to give further impetus behind the style. Harveys® Pale Cream was sampled chilled to shoppers and the activity was heavily supported in all stores. Customers in Asda were given a free recipe leaflet with details of a Honey and Lime Crème Brulée while customers in Tesco and Sainsbury’s received both a money off voucher offering them the opportunity to redeem 50p off their next purchase of 75cl or 1L Harveys® Pale Cream, and the chance to win an exclusive trip to the Harveys bodega in Jerez. “ The uplift figures reported by the stores have been incredible,” continues Smith, “ASDA reported an increase in sales of 5074%² and Tesco an increase of 5873%² following the sampling. We are delighted with both the success of the sampling programme and the response of the customers to Harveys® Pale Cream.”
