US scheme urges people to drink together on Sundays

A new initiative called ‘Share & Pair Sundays’ has kicked off in the United States in a bid to counter anti-drinking sentiment. Roger Morris reports. Last year, prominent figures including Gino Colangelo and Kimberley Noelle Charles launched a campaign called 'Come Over October' to increase the social drinking of wine. The initiative, backed by the likes of Jackson Family Wines and Constellation Brands, saw considerable success and was widely adopted by the wine trade in the US. Now, an informal American trade coalition has developed a second phase designed to get people to casually pair food and wines on weekends. Called 'Share & Pair Sundays' the concept is simple – sharing food with wine has historically been a prime social interaction, and the initiative urges people to do so more frequently with Sunday get-togethers. The programme will run for 10 consecutive Sundays from 23 March until 1 June. “It’s not about technical wine and food pairings,” US wine journalist Karen MacNeil emphasises. “The point is for people to get together to share food and wine, even if it’s for potato chips and a glass of Pinot Grigio.”

Negative publicity

Both the 'Come Over October' and the 'Share & Pair' initiatives have two purposes – one is to combat the negative publicity that discourages social drinking, and second is to combat individual loneliness, a growing concern among American health authorities. Kristen Reitzell, senior vice president of marketing and communication for Jackson Family Wines, one of the patron sponsors of 'Come Over October', says JFW adapted the programme for all the tasting rooms of its American wineries and had measurable success with these. “We need to pivot to welcoming walk-ins again” and “making things more casual,” she says. Similarly, Constellation Brands, another patron sponsor, ran a 'Come Over October' campaign to spur sales at Kroger supermarkets. “The 600 stores that promoted the programme dramatically outperformed the stores that did not,” reports John Beese, director of strategic accounts at Constellation.

Social media

The organisers claim the October campaign last year reached 4.6 million followers on social media, and connected with more than 10 million consumers through in-store traffic. It also received 1.7 billion unique visitors per month of press coverage and scored 3 million impressions through media donated advertising. Among the patrons who supported the programme, in additional to JFW and Constellation, are Total Wine, Southern Glazer, J. Lohr and Freixenet Mionetto USA. Altogether, there were more than 100 patrons and friends who supported the October initiative and who collectively donated about US$150,000 in operating funds plus an additional $100,000 in in-kind donations, Colangelo said.

Going international

Similar trade support is expected for the 'Share & Pair Sundays', and the coalition plans to repeat 'Come Over October' in 2025 following the success of its 2024 launch. Companies and organisations interested in participating are encouraged to visit – www.shareandpairsundays.com – for more information. The programme is not intended to be only limited to the United States either, Colangelo says. “Our goal is to make these wine advocacy campaigns international,” he says.  “We made some inroads last year in Italy.  We're talking to people in Canada now about activating there in a big way.  And the UK is certainly on our radar.”