Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/101495
SALES & MARKETING Eager Market Requires Strategy Far East can be lucrative in exchange for risk, research, resolve By Kate Lavin A s the past few years of wine surplus found North American companies searching for willing markets, many found eager trade partners in Asia. According to the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Hong Kong, during 2011 U.S. wines became the third most-imported wines by volume and the fourth most-imported by dollars within the special administrative region of China. In spite of this, U.S. wines are responsible for just 10% of the market share by volume and 6% by dollars for that location. The market leader, France, more than laps its closest competitor in every category. In U.S. dollar value, for example, French wines own 62% of Hong Kong���s foreign wine market. Lindsey Gallagher, director of international marketing for the Wine Institute, says she spends a lot of time managing the expectations of California wine professionals with an eye toward the Far East. The lack of awareness about U.S. wine��� and consequent lack of demand for the product��� means that ���Hong Kong and mainland are two completely different markets.��� Erich R. Kuss, U.S. Agricultural Trade Office director, Hong Kong in China, ���Anything going against French wine has its work cut out for it,��� Gallagher says. According to a 2012 report issued by the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai, China, ���While U.S. wine exports to China continue to increase at double-digit rates, our share of China���s wine market is falling due to aggressive promotion by our competitors.��� The news is not all bad, however, as trade officials, economists and North American wine professionals alike contend that Asian wine consumers are eager to learn about foreign wines as well as buy them. A square is decorated with lanterns for Chinese New Year, one of the most popular holidays for giving gifts. 128 W in e s & V i ne s JANUARY 20 13 Getting started Mike Wlodarczyk, general manager of Goose Ridge Vineyards, traveled to Asia in November to attend the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair and the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival. ���The contacts I made were phenomenal,��� Wlodarczyk says of the trip. ���It wasn���t just Hong Kong or China. It was for Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Australia; there was interest from all over the world. So we���re waiting to see what comes out of it and looking to sign some contracts.��� Goose Ridge, the 60,000-case winery in Benton City, Wash., that also produces the StoneCap Wines label, has been selling wine in Japan for about 10 months and this year expects to ship about 6,000 cases there. Wlodarczyk explains that U.S. wines are new to shoppers in Hong Kong and mainland China, where consumers are still discovering wine