Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/766392
154 WINES&VINES January 2017 BUSINESS PRACTICAL WINERY & VINEYARD wastewater annually and will be able to use roughly half of that in irrigating the Cabernet vineyard here on our property. If this pays out the way we are designing it to, 1 million gallons of wastewater would displace roughly half the water we pump from our well. Presently this water is treated and dripped into the forest. With the Lyve system, we can treat water to irrigate vines. This allows us to pump less water from the ground." Q With the large distributor consolida- tions that have occurred, do you see specialty players emerging to cater to smaller accounts? " Much of our route to market is handled by a single company now; it is rather fright- ening. The clout they have over us is re- markable. They do a good job; we have grown with them, but it is certainly a con- cern. I am not aware of any new (distribu- tion) startup that is viable at this point. You would think the opportunity would present itself at some point, but I am not aware of it. It would benefit the smaller wineries quite a bit if there were new players." " As you consolidate the big (distributors), it gives the opportunity for the little guy to come up. It becomes a real challenge for small wineries. With the Southern-Glazer's merger, I think they dropped something like 300 to 500 wineries. A couple of friends of mine got the letter. They are brands doing 25,000 cases per year. That is a lot of wineries." " Currently we do not see a surge in small or boutique-type distributors. There are a few of them out there and in the valley, but not a whole lot of them. We do see larger dis- tributors adding boutique operations. They have always had them (to a degree). We are going to see the large distributors mak- ing these divisions for smaller production wineries. The fine wine aspect of it." " You will see smaller distributors opening up, but they will not have the same skill set or professionalism. They will open up but they will get clobbered by the big 9ROXPHWULF /HYHO)LOO0RGHOV ZZZ[SUHVVILOOFRP3UDGR5RDG6WH6DQ/XLV2ELVSR&$ WROOIUHH +DQGFUDIWHG FXVWRPPDGHWRRUGHULQWKH86$ • DRY ICE • BARREL DRY ICE BLASTING • INDUSTRIAL & BULK GASES • SAFETY PRODUCTS • SULFUR DIOXIDE & 6% SOLUTION • WINERY EQUIPMENT P.O. BOX 2516 Napa, CA 94558 Phone: (707) 258-0885 5200 COMMERCE BLVD. ROHNERT PARK, CA 94928 Phone: (707) 584-0111 1549 N. BROADWAY STOCKTON, CA 95205 Phone: (209) 462-3086 WWW.COMPLETEWELDERSSUPPLY.COM Complete_Welders_Dir10 11/25/09 1:29 PM Page 1 SUMMARY Larger distributors are making specialty teams to cater to smaller and premium accounts, yet they are still dropping accounts size- able enough to seek distribution elsewhere. Survey respondents believe small distributors will arise to cater to boutique and spe- cialty accounts. They will need to pick their markets and accounts wisely to succeed, but they will face many challenges to market entry from larger players and their own limited financial resources. Smaller distributors that become successful will most likely be bought by larger dis- tributors, the CEOs surveyed say, creating a new round of consolidation. Many smaller wineries will most likely pursue direct-to-consumer (DtC) marketing and sales. Consolidation and DtC sales