Nisa ends agreement with store following fake wine seizure

Nisa will “no longer work” with a Sutton Coldfield supermarket which lost its licence after being caught with 41 bottles of fake wine.

The symbol group has said Nisa branding will be taken down from KVK Supermarket in Eachelhurst Road, Walmley “as soon as possible” following the outcome of a Birmingham City Council licensing hearing last week.

The meeting heard Trading Standards officers found 41 bottles of counterfeit Yellow Tail wine in the shop after being notified by members of the public.

The callers had purchased six bottles of the brand and said three “had a different colour liquid inside and did not taste the same as the others.”

Yellow Tail owners Casella Brands confirmed to Trading Standards the bottles were counterfeit, and officers visited the shop and seized bottles of Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz.

The meeting heard the bottles probably came from abroad and were distributed by organised crime gangs in the UK.

A licensing sub-committee revoked the shop’s licence to sell alcohol.

They also removed Davanayaki Vickneswaran as designated premises supervisor and said the “sale of counterfeit alcohol was indeed so serious that it could not be tolerated”.

Now, Nisa have announced the shop will shortly lose its branding.

A Nisa spokesperson said: “Following the recent matter involving the KVK Supermarket in Sutton Coldfield whose alcohol licence was revoked by Birmingham City Council, Nisa Retail can confirm that we will no longer be working with the retailer and the store will be de-branded as soon as possible.

“The selling of counterfeit goods is taken very seriously by Nisa Retail and we will act promptly and robustly with matters of this nature.

“This was an isolated incident involving one retailer and does not reflect on the hundreds of other responsible independent Nisa retailers across the UK, many of whom operate in the West Midlands.”

Kuladevi Thavarasa, former licence holder at the shop, said during the meeting staff had purchased the wines while she was isolating and preparing for her mother’s funeral – and that neither she nor the staff did not know they were counterfeit.

She said during the meeting: “I sincerely apologise for this one incident or mistake – the first and last, only time.”