PLB announced as sponsors of the prestigious IWSC Retailer of the Year Award
14 07 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLB announced as sponsors of the prestigious IWSC Retailer of the Year Award
The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) today announced that PLB will be the Sponsor of the highly respected Retailer of the Year award for 2011 and 2012.
The award, considered to be one of the most coveted, is presented at the prestigious awards Banquet at the Guildhall in London. Winners over the past few years include Waitrose (2010), Sainsbury (2009) and Tesco (2008).
The judging of the award is based on the best performing retailer of wine and spirit entries in the 2011 Competition, combined with innovation in retailing wines and spirits. New criteria for the 2011 award will also include Social Responsibility initiatives and consumer engagement via Social Media and on-line activities.
Peter Darbyshire, Managing Director at PLB, comments: “We are delighted to support an award that acknowledges the level of commitment and the effort made by our retailer customers to provide their own customers with the best possible experience in-store and online, promotes quality and encourages diversity and a real point of difference across their ranges, set against a challenging and competitive market place.”
The judging of the award will see a panel including journalists and writers from the trade and consumer press along with a representative from both PLB and the IWSC. The panel will be independently chaired and also use an element of social media to invite consumers to share their preferred choice of retailer.
IWSC Marketing Manager, David Kelly comments: “Using social media to engage the consumer directly and gain feedback into their wine buying preferences is a new element of the award. It highlights the fact that the IWSC is constantly evolving to accommodate new social trends. The increasing importance of consumer recommendations over the purely traditional routes of wine marketing has led us to evolve the award and it will be an interesting aspect to bring to the judging panel, as well as showing valuable consumer insight.’
The award is due to be judged at the beginning of October, once the IWSC has successfully completed the judging of all Northern Hemisphere wines, Southern Hemisphere wines and spirits.
For further press information please contact:
David Kelly
IWSC Marketing Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 548 963
Email: david.kelly@iwscgroup.com
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Editors Notes:
The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs.
The Competition has the support of many of the world's top wine and spirits producers, because it strives to set the international benchmark for quality. The unique combination of detailed technical analysis and specialist judging panels means that gaining any Competition award is an outstanding achievement. A main focus is to communicate the value of all medals to retailers, restaurateurs and consumers in every major market. The vice presidents are now working closely with the Competition through a new Advisory Board to bring increasing international awareness.
PLB began importing wines 26 years ago and has grown to become one of the UK’s largest suppliers to the multiple trade, as well as servicing the independent wine specialist and on–trade through PLB’s rapidly expanding On-trade & Speciality Retail Division. The company also distributes to customers in key international markets. With a wine, beer and spirit producer base that covers Europe, the Americas, Australasia and South Africa, PLB can truly claim to be at the forefront of the UK drinks trade.
