What are you measuring?
According to Vivien Azer at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium, when millenials are buying spirits, it's all about "Buzz per Buck". ( We're talking about a new kind of ROI. Return on Inebriation which equals buzz / cost of beverage.) In other words, when shopping for spirits, this group in general terms is looking for a high alcohol percentage at the lowest price. We're all about measurements here at BDCo, but this was a new one for us.
How will you position your winery to catch the attention of these up and coming buyers?
In addition to this interesting perspective, during the course of the day there were a number of metrics that lead me to the following thoughts and more questions (in italics):
- 39% of the market accounts for 85% of all wine purchases
Many of these people are buying high end wine. Are you reaching the 39%?
- 59% of these buyers in the 39% are using FaceBook
What are you doing with FaceBook? Do you have an effective strategy?
- Napa Valley Cabernet is bring in $3,200-$7,500 per ton on the spot market
What is your bulk wine worth? What are your costs?
- California wine averages $106/case at retail (clearly this isn't the majority of Napa Valley wine, but there is a message here.)
Are you competing on price? If so, watch out for the imports.
- Production per acre has increased over the years - some areas are seeing 7.6 tons/acre.
What is happening to your costs per gallon as your yield increases?
- There are 7,000 US wineries and 675 distributors.
It's harder than ever to get a distributor's attention.
- Who knew there were more than 10,000 people in the "people who hate cilantro" group on Facebook?
Passion spreads, groups form, and money can be made with social media. What are you doing to create engagement for your customers?