The Mont Tauch co-operative produces 90% of the Fitou wine drunk in the UK, under a number of brands and retailer own labels. At the end of last month the company launched a £500,000 campaign in a bid to position the winery as The Face of Fitou.

"The aim of this campaign is to present the human side of Fitou," says marketing director Katie Jones. "This aspect is particularly important to us as we are a co-operative. The campaign features some of the Mont Tauch growers as well as an image of a face created out of the word Fitou itself."

The winery will also be extending its Le Village du Sud range, moving into single varietals to encourage consumers to trade up. "This is a fun and approachable range in terms of the branding and the wine," she says. "We've commissioned a cartoonist to create labels and promotional material that depict life in a French village.

"It's about demystifying the category, which can be confusing for consumers."

The co-operative has also launched a Tetra Pak package into the range following consumer demand for a more convenient format, says Jones. "We've received great feedback about this on our website, which has been very encouraging. Wine can be a very traditional category and people are usually reluctant to embrace innovation, especially when it comes to the packaging, but in this case the convenience helped people overcome their prejudice. The quality is still great so they were won over."

Finding a balance between maintaining the brand's French credentials while keeping in step with modern consumer trends is a tricky task, however. "We have to play to our strengths. That means we have to keep doing what we do best here and that means being Fitou," says Jones.

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