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Wine for Balls, Functions and Parties
Organising a ball either for a school or a charity can be highly rewarding for the organising committee, particularly when the main objective is reached - that of maximising income for your cause.
The selling of wine can help to do that if used in the correct way. For instance the Parkside School 125th Centenary Summer Ball 2004 made over £2,800 profit and the Cobham RFC Summer Ball £2,600 profit from wine sales.
There is another aspect, some of the larger venues, have caterers with terrible wine lists and a lack of choice, if corkage is offered, it is sometimes worth looking at that, purely from a quality aspect. (nothing worse than bad wine at a function)
How does it work?
Function Caterers are renowned for their mark up on drinks (as indeed are restaurants). If you can buy from a reputable wine merchant at a reasonable price, you can then mark up to the price you could normally expect to pay, normally making about 50 % Gross profit.
To maximise profit, the ball needs to be in a venue which does not have in-house caterers, as corkage will cut into any possible excess. (Even with corkage money can still be made)
To keep proper control of stock and money, the best idea is to make sure the ball goers pre-order their wine.
Can we buy from Calais?
You can of course buy from Calais but only for personal consumption. If you buy from Calais and then sell it on, you are breaking the law and can be heavily prosecuted. The price of a day trip to Calais for two is estimated to be about £100, taking into account petrol, fares and refreshments. This would not factor into time off from work.
What are the advantages of buying from Wine JEMS?
· Try before you buy – free wine tastings can be arranged and even expected with some of the dishes chosen for the ball or even on their own.
· Sale or Return – The average consumption of wine at a sit down function such as a ball is 1.1 – 1.2 bottles per person, but what one cannot predict is which wines you are going to sell on the night, and as you do not want to under or over order, the best option is to order on a sale or return basis.
· Proven Quality – All wines are tasted several times before selected for the list.
· Systems in place for pre-ordering – Systems can be offered to help the pre ordering process
· Food & Wine matching – Advice on what wine goes best with which food.
· Free delivery to the door
· Discounts available for volume orders.
· Experience of dealing with events.
Some Recent functions (last 12 months) supplied by Wine JEMS
Cobham RFC Summer Ball June 2003 & June 2004.
Parkside Summer Ball June 2003 & June 2004
Orchard School St. Valentine’s Day Ball February 2004
Grenhyrst Park charity event, Capel, Surrey July 2004.
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