Finding Your Wholesaler through a Retailer One of the greatest challenges for foreign wineries these days in the U.S. market is to find a point of entry, and to sustain it once you do. Importers are inundated with requests for representation and most brands don’t appear to distinguish themselves from any other unrecognizable brand name. Once an importer takes a brand on, this can appear the answer to your prayers, but it is just the beginning of the journey.

1. Back Door Distribution
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3. Finding Your Wholesaler through a Retailer
One of the greatest challenges for foreign wineries these days in the
U.S. market is to find a point of entry, and to sustain it once you do.
Importers are inundated with requests for representation and most
brands don’t appear to distinguish themselves from any other
unrecognizable brand name. Once an importer takes a brand on,
this can appear the answer to your prayers, but it is just the
beginning of the journey.
How do you stand out from all the other wines? How do you ensure
that one order from the importer turns into two, and then years of
brand building?
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4. The key is often to think outside the box.
In the case of a winery which has a U.S. importer, but is unhappy with the level
of sales or simply wants to ensure the relationship continues, opportunity can be
found in developing a rapport with a chain. Not the typical chain that readily
comes to mind – supermarkets and enormous national accounts with hundreds
or thousands of stores.
Not only are these almost impossible to penetrate and require an established
broker or national distributor to develop the relationship, but they may require
more volume than the average winery can provide. No, I’m referring to smaller
restaurant and retail chains which are theoretically easier to approach and may
provide all the case movement a winery could wish for.
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5. The importer is providing the basic infrastructure and the
wines are warehoused and available in the U.S., allowing a
chain to build from one store or a handful, from a few cases to
a pallet.
Whatever the size, they don’t normally start with a container
order unless they have made a commitment to a very
inexpensive brand with a national distribution network.
Container orders can come, even for small or higher priced
wines, but taking a chance on wines that are already in the
country is a much more feasible option.
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6. If you haven’t already met buyers on sales calls around the country, start by
asking the importer for any distributor’s placements that are part of a chain. It
may just be one wine in one city at the moment, but if it is Fleming’s restaurant,
a Whole Foods specialty grocery store or a Costco, this opens up opportunities
for other areas. Cultivate the buyer, ask how you can expand on distribution in
theirs or other areas, and capitalize on healthy sales already in place by
speaking with regional buyers. Offer to give volume discounts, do wine dinners,
in-store tastings or ask for a meeting with store managers.
For some time, I sold to a retail chain in Texas where the buyer arranged for me
to meet with over a dozen store managers at once. I provided lunch, conducted
a tasting, gave them a presentation on the regions and wines and supplied them
with POS material to take back to the stores. A personal connection was made
and at least some of them started stocking and paying attention to the brands.
If you have lost an importer, the knowledge of these placements can mean the
opportunity to get back into the country through a chain, rather than starting the
whole process all over again of contacting importers who may or may not have
any interest.
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7. I know of one such brand that is doing very well after losing their last
importer. They contacted a small, but robust retail chain that was
interested in continuing with their wines, and have sufficient sales to
currently order 2-3 containers in the first year.
There were other advantages on both sides:
The brand had built up a loyal consumer base across the country that
the chain can supply through direct shipping;
The chain is a multi-million dollar business that pays on time every time;
The chain works with a local importer/distributor that clears their
products for them for a reduced fee, thus allowing the retailer to make
significantly more on the sale and encourages them to continue
promoting the brand.
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