Dive Brief:

• Jimmy John’s has partnered with California producer and bottler The Folk Machine and winemaker Kenny Likitprakong to offer a specially selected wine to pair with its "Frenchie" sub for a limited time, according to an email sent to Restaurant Dive.
• The wine, Vin de Sandwich, is a Pinot Noir that pairs with the sandwich's salami, capicola and salted butter layers. The wine is not sold at Jimmy John's and can be ordered from Wine.com.
• The wine and sandwich are featured within Jimmy John's latest national campaign, which was created by ad agency WorkInProgress. The campaign includes TV spots as well as a microsite with a toungue-and-cheek approach.

Dive Insight:

There are a number of food and beverage items associated with summer, and alcohol is often one of them, making Jimmy John's new offering a timely choice. Beyond the seasonal hook, wine sales are showing serious strength these days, with U.S. sales growing nearly 5% between October 2017 and October 2018, especially as younger demographics increase their intake of wine. Alcohol delivery is also becoming increasingly popular, which is no surprise considering 28% of millennials prefer to drink alcohol at home, according to Mintel.

Restaurants are largely lacking when it comes to beverage delivery and the disparity is surprising considering the serious amount of dollars that beverage-backed sales can generate. So far, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays and BJ's Restaurant have introduced alcohol delivery, with Pizza Hut leading the experiment back in 2017. 

A few other restaurants are seeing the golden opportunity in specialty alcohol offerings, including IHOP's recent pumpkin pancake-flavored beer brewed with real pancake mix offering and Dunkin' partnered with Harpoon Brewery to launch a fall beer last year.

The unique Jimmy John's offering and its limited-time, get-it-while-you-can nature could also help drive new customers through the sandwich chain's doors. Referred to as scarcity-based marketing, LTOs give the products an exclusive feel and increase the amount of value that consumers associate with the offering. They also have become compelling ways to attract new customers, and LTOs have increased 64% within the last five years among restaurant chains, according to Technomic data shared during the National Restaurant Association Show. As a sandwich shop, some consumers might find the concept of having a glass of wine with their order as a novel idea worth investigating.