Wine Vision Global Exporting

Export Readiness Assessment for the Wine Community
Are You Ready to Export Wine?

PURPOSE: This assessment was developed for wine community professionals, and assists in determining your Export Profile. It is based on best practices in exporting in the wine community. After completing the assessment, you will total your results to determine which of 3 export profiles describes your situation best. Based on your profile, you will then be able to identify next steps to assist you in exporting wine successfully. This assessment is intended to be used primarily for developmental purposes.

INSTRUCTIONS: To complete the assessment, read each question carefully and then circle the most appropriate number from 0 to 2. Use the following scale to determine your responses:

0 = Not currently doing 1 = Doing to some extent 2 = Already doing

#	Do you currently?	Not currently doing	Doing to some extent	Already doing
1.	Sell wine outside of your home state?	0	1	2
2.	Work with domestic distributors?	0	1	2
3.	Identify the various customers segments which purchase your wine? (e.g. 50% of my customers are from California; are age 40-60; and spent $15-20 per bottle; 20% of my customers are….)	0	1	2
4.	Have commitment to exporting wine from your upper management?	0	1	2
5.	Ship wine abroad?	0	1	2
6.	Have an export strategy?	0	1	2
7.	Have a website which provides information to help international customers buy your wine? (Fax, email, shopping cart, etc)	0	1	2
8.	Attend international wine trade shows or trade missions abroad?	0	1	2
9.	Have identified an international partner or distributor with which to work?	0	1	2
10.	Analyze and target specific international countries in which to market?	0	1	2
11.	Have an international marketing plan for promotion in export markets?	0	1	2
12.	Have someone in your business who has been appointed to be in charge of exporting?	0	1	2
13.	Have sufficient resources and funding allocated for exporting?	0	1	2
14.	Have accounting records to track export performance?	0	1	2
15.	Achieve at least a 5% return on international exports?	0	1	2

Your Export Profile

SCORING & INTERPRETATION
Add up your total score from all 3 columns, and then identify your Export Profile below.

Scores of 0 to 10
Stage 1: Development Exporting
Your Export Profile is that of development exporting, meaning that you are either in the preliminary planning stages of exporting; are thinking about exporting; or have not considered it as a viable option yet. Regardless of which one of these reasons, you are in an ideal situation to begin developing your export potential. Now is an excellent time to learn the basic steps for exporting, and to explore how it will fit your business strategy. Turn to the following pages to identify next steps to assist you in exporting wine successfully.

Scores of 11 to 21
Stage 2: Lifestyle Exporting
Your Export Profile is that of lifestyle exporting, meaning that you are most likely doing some exporting all ready, but have not yet made it an earnest part of your business strategy. You may already be making trips abroad to certain countries to attend trade shows and tastings. You may also have established relationships with one or two exporters. You are most likely making some profit at exporting, but the tips on the following pages will be helpful in allowing you to identify new strategies to make your exporting efforts more successful.

Scores of 22 to 30
Stage 3: Experienced Exporting
Your Export Profile is that of experienced exporting, meaning that you are already exporting wine in a serious manner. Congratulations! The information on the following pages will be useful in providing you with tips and strategies to enhance your current efforts so that you may be even more successful in your exporting.

Stage 1: Development Exporting: Next Steps for Export Success
Following are some recommended next steps for Stage 1: Development Exporting.

If your company (and corporate affiliates) has less than 500 employees, it is eligible by SBA standards to receive financial assistance in developing export markets through the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP). The Wine Institute administers funds for this program – wineries do not have to be a member of Wine Institute’s trade organization to participate.

The MAP program consists of two programs; generic marketing and branded marketing. Wineries with over 500 employees can only participate in the generic program, while small wineries can access funds for the branded program (to participate in the branded program, wineries must also be members of the generic program). Both programs require user paid fees, based on volume or value of wines exported (hence, beginning exporters pay very small fees).

More information is available about MAP through the Wine Institute office:
(415) 512-0105 and website: http://www.wineinstitute.org/

Participation in the generic MAP is valuable for wineries of all sizes, at all stages of export development. There may be regional winery organizations already participating that represent your appellation.

One beneficial generic activity supported by MAP is wine trade show participation. The Wine Institute organizes cooperative participation in global events such as VINEXPO in Bordeaux and Asia, PROWEIN in Germany, LIWSTF in London and VinItaly where multiple wineries feature wines available for sale within a ‘California Pavilion,’ The Wine Institute also sponsors several California-specific trade tasting events. Trade shows are excellent venues for meeting prospective or current importers, as well as retail and restaurant buyers.

Another valuable generic MAP activity is sponsorship and organization of trade visits to California. Almost monthly, groups of importers, retailers, restaurateurs and journalists come to California – all expenses paid by the MAP. The Wine Institute coordinates visits to individual wineries and regional trade associations in attempt to familiarize visitors with the virtues of California wine regions, and thereby develop ambassadors for California wines.

The Wine Institute also uses MAP money to employ foreign representatives to champion California wines in their local markets, such as UK, Canada, Japan, Europe and Singapore. These representatives conduct annual market studies and can help vintners connect with appropriate importers. Another source of foreign market intelligence is the Foreign Agriculture Trade Offices (ATO), located in foreign capitals around the world. These offices help U.S. agriculture exporters do business effectively in their respective markets by conducting market research, helping to plan promotional events and helping vintners link with trade partners. Vintners have found Wine Institute and ATO staff extremely helpful when planning to penetrate export markets.

Stage 2: Life Style Exporting: Next Steps for Export Success
Following are some recommended next steps for Stage 2: Life Style Exporting.

As administrator of the USDA’s Market Access Program (MAP), the California Wine Institute has current data on all major export markets for California wine. If your export strategy involves large volume sales, the top 10 importers of California wines should be target markets for your winery. If your strategy involves targeting niche customers around the world, select cities within major export markets and specialty markets (e.g. Caribbean for ultra premium and luxury wines). Look for markets with strong sales in the price segment in which your wines compete. Also look for markets where California wines have a relatively large market share (e.g. Singapore) as this indicates familiarity with California wines styles and prices.

MAP sponsored trade show participation, market visits and vintner missions are cost effective ways to meet importers and familiarize yourself with export markets. Travel is an essential component of building relationships with export partners, so joint efforts and organized events spread costs between several wineries and facilitate broad exposure for participating vintners.

Stage 3: Experienced Exporting: Next Steps for Export Success
Following are some recommended next steps for Stage 3: Experienced Exporting.

Expect performance from your export partners as you would your domestic distributors, brokers, etc. Set annual sales goals and ask for depletion information on a regular basis (do not expect sophisticated electronic transfer of this information). Provide your importers with an appropriate promotional budget and include travel of winery personnel to key markets when affordable.

Relationships are the key to success in export markets, as they are in the U.S., so be prepared to interact with foreigners. Understand the market stats for the wine business as well as economic factors that are likely to impact trade and consumers’ decision to buy your wines. Know what people and publications influence buyers in the market and try to connect with these entities on behalf of your brand(s). Get to know the appropriate agencies in place to help your cause, such as the Wine Institute representative, the ATO director, local American Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Embassy staff. Not only will these people happily promote your product, they can be invaluable sources of local information.

Trade promotions and sales incentives that work in the U.S. may not be effective in export markets, so consult with your importer to find what motivates the sales staff and their trade clients. Be careful when suggesting sales competitions, as many cultures do appreciate this concept, so popular in the U.S.

You may also visit the Centers for International Trade Development (CITD) web site for a quality, online assessment to self-test a company’s export readiness.

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