Quick Note From Distribution
I won’t wax loquacious – just an observation. A bit of a road report, if you will. A few conversations with wine distributors in the Midwest and on the East Coast have rendered some interesting responses. It may helpful for wineries to know that: “We can’t take any new projects on this year; the market has gone stagnant…” “We’re up 21% this year but we’re dropping suppliers because they want too much….we don’t have the time for depletion reports every single week….” “We’re on the lookout for close-outs, primarily…” “We want new and exciting products to work with and are willing to buy at 25% of retail…” “We’d like you to produce 400,000 gallons of white zinfandel with good ratings in 3L bag-in-box packaging, and there’s no funding. Just produce it and we’ll submit it for approval; good luck, and we’ll let you know if yours is selected…”
So with a mix of the grim, the grave and the laughable, there’s a quick glimpse of our beloved 3-tier system’s goings-on in terms of taking matters of finance in hand. There are ways to wrest such control from the hands of distributors, HOWEVER, let us be mindful that while HR 5034 has been reworded, hairs are still being split. The legislative conversations about direct shipping are far from resolved, and the heat is turning up in increments nearly undetectable by most. In my opinion, looking at the pending legislation through lay glasses is nearly akin to fighting a panther with a plastic spoon. Farella, Braun & Martel do have a good handle on what’s happening, and as a legal firm focused on the wine industry, they’re offering periodical interpretations of very important issues, framing the information in under 4 syllables per word. No comments on the bill as yet, but I expect something from them soon.
In the meantime, why not use Wine Societies as a sales platform?
Humbly yours,
Christian Lane
Director of Marketing & BizDev, Winery Focused
Vintner, Simple Math Cellars
