Decanter World Wine AwardsPetrus barcode switch 'tip of iceberg'
- Monday 6 June 2011
Leclerc: 'real problem'
The 23-year-old, who has not been named, was caught last month in a Leclerc supermarket in Trélisssac, Dordogne, having changed barcodes, replacing the indicated price of about €2,300 per bottle with €2.50 labels, according to Agence France Presse.
But for every person caught, many more get away with such label switching, French supermarket executives told Decanter.com.
‘This is a real problem,’ David Bruguiere, wine buyer for Leclerc said.
Although a bottle of Petrus should be easily recognisable, most cashiers cannot tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine. If dishonest clients unpeel the price label from a bottle and put it on a more expensive one, they can get away with it, he said.
Such label switching is particularly easy during the foires aux vins, annual wine fairs at French supermarkets.
During the foires bottles are sometimes left unlabelled, and unused barcodes are left unsupervised, a representative for the supermarket chain Auchan said.
‘We are working on preventive measures,’ said Bruguiere, ‘but we are not sure what we can do yet.’
Have your say!
Bill Gates
June 10 19:43
I have to confess to similar behavior in a previous life. It was the only way I could afford La Tache!
Hubbard Page
June 09 15:04
It is a mystery to me why anyone would pay the price for Petrus that is sold in a supermarket where the ambient temperature of wine on the shelf is really quite unacceptable. After all, how many Petrus consumers do you know that choose their Petrus purchases from a supermarket?
FranciscoR
June 08 09:51
2.300 EUR bottles are at hand reach in a supermarket shelve? Seems very strange!
In my country, expensive wines like Petrus are not for sale in supermarkets and even in wineshops, they are usualy inside a closed showcase. You have to ask for the bottles! Very strange this report!
craig
June 07 16:09
Why don't the French winery's just put the barcode on the label like the rest of the civilized wine world?