Vancouver-based White Spot has stopped carrying foreign wines in a bid to bolster its brand image as a restaurant chain that celebrates local ingredients.
"There isn't another restaurant chain in this province that buys more local products than White Spot does," White Spot president Warren Erhart told Business in Vancouver July 18.
He said that starting July 16, each of his 65 full-service White Spot-branded restaurants in B.C. and Alberta will exclusively carry B.C. Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wines.
The chain also operates the more casual Triple O's chain, which has 58 locations in B.C. and Alberta.
"There are great quality B.C. wines today," Erhart said. "This new policy is a natural extension of our support for B.C."
Erhart accepts that the new policy may alienate some customers but he believes that even tourists prefer to eat local ingredients when they travel and that they will not pine for wines from their home region.
B.C. VQA sales comprise about 14% of overall wine sales in B.C., more than sales of wine from any other country. Australian wine sales, for example, comprise about 10% of total wine sales in B.C.
The most popular wines at White Spot are all local wines, produced by:
- Andrew Peller Ltd. (TSX:ADW.A);
- Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ); and
- Mission Hill Family Estate Winery.
Erhart has no plans to expand his policy to beer.
"Over 80% of our beer sales are from Granville Island Brewing," he said. "We still carry a host of local and domestic offerings."
