Who decides the wine pricing policy of the hotel?
The wine purchase are in principle approved in Mumbai for each financial year by the CPC (Central Purchase Committee) headed by our VP, Ms. Shirin Batliwala. They negotiate the price in Mumbai, so that is not our turf. I decide the selling prices based on the marketing and international trends. We are an international chain now and it is easy to get the facts and figures from abroad. The trends keep on changing too. Having travelled to 55 countries, I find it easy to stay on top of the market and the current trends. But how do you decide the mark ups? We base our prices at an average of 40-70% beverage costs. The value wines are at 40%. Expensive ones can be at 70 or even at 75% as we want them to move also and not stay on the wine list only. For instance we may go for a Margaux at 75% and Sassicaia at 65%. A Petrus might be 70%, perhaps. We certainly want to be lower than other similar 5-star properties in the market. What sort of wine promotions do you carry out in the hotel? First o
