Getting into the lucrative US market is a goal for many wine producers. However, the US is fiercely competitive and attracting buyer attention is becoming harder to do.
The USA Trade Tasting (USATT), which opens in New York in March 2016, is helping to build a bridge between producers and qualified buyers, though its unique and tailored pitch sessions.
But before taking part, it’s a good idea to understand the market background – for all beverages, and not just wine.
The USA at a glance
With imported beer accounting for 14.3% of the total category, imported wine representing 23.3% of the total category and imported spirits dominating 41.3% of its respective category, international brands make up a large percentage of the industry.
The US adult drinks market size is 7.7bn L and represents $212bn in total retail sales – numbers that are impossible to ignore.
So how do import brands fare against local offerings?
Wine
Over the past year, the US has seen a dramatic increase in dollar value % in the premium wine price segments (over $9.00). All price ranges from $9.00 and up have gained at least +7.9% in both Total Dollar Value % and Total Volume % changes.
Of the total US wine category, import figures of note include: 21% of the market is imported table wine and 3.4% is Champagne. The top states in total consumption are: California (18.3%), Florida (8.3%), and New York (8.0%). New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois all come in at 4.5%.
Italy (8.6%), France (2.1%), and Spain (1.3%) lead imports from Europe, with their total share of the market being significantly higher than that of other EU countries.
Beer
Of the total US beer category, 14% is imported labels. California (10.4%), Texas (9.3%), Florida (5.6%), New York (5.2%) and Pennsylvania (5.1%) are the top states in terms of total consumption and are good targets for brands looking to enter the US.
In terms of the value of the market, imports jumped by +7.3% compared to last year, corresponding to a 5.1% increase in volume consumed.
Spirits
Vodka, representing a 33.9% share of the total market, is by far and away the biggest category – and it shows continued growth of 1.5%. Rum holds 12.4% of the market, but has lost some ground (-1.5%) in the last year. The biggest winner since 2014 was Irish whisky, which saw growth of 7.6% and which now holds 1.2% of the total market share.
Again, we see good target markets similar to wine and beer in the top states of consumption, which are as follows: California (12.0%); Florida (8.0%); New York (6.4%); Texas (5.8%); and Illinois (4.1%).
Connecting with buyers
Even though the US market represents a big opportunity for import brands, industry buyers are overwhelmed by the amount of brands that are already stateside. The US adult beverage industry runs on what is called the ‘Three Tier’ distribution system. This means international brands legally need to find an importer and work with them towards developing distribution partners who can service on and off premise retail accounts. As most importers, distributors and retailers want to see large margins and even larger marketing budgets, this often leaves small and medium sized companies trying to competitively price their product while keeping their ventures profitable.
That’s why innovation is needed in the way US trade buyers do business. USA Trade Tasting, a B2B only trade show in New York City, has launched the ‘Brand Pitch’ platform set to change the way US importers and distributors source new products.
‘Brand Pitch’ sessions are a unique match making service that offers wine representatives the opportunity to pitch to 30 different pre-screened industry buyers. The initiative was developed to create better networking experiences for business owners attending tradeshows.
“USATT’s new ‘Brand Pitch’ meetings are an operative solution to the overwhelming number of new labels US buyers are inundated with on a day-to-day basis,” said Sid Patel, CEO of the event’s producer Beverage Trade Network. “Each meeting is customized to fit everybody’s needs. Importers are paired with international brands ready to break into the USA. State distributors are paired with brands ready to expand into new markets. It’s the perfect tradeshow networking platform tailored to the US system.” More importantly, suppliers will be pitching to their target buyers. For example: If an Italian winery is looking to find a US import partner, they will be pitching to 30 importers.
Now go pitch
Other opportunities at the USA including entry to the conference, which explains how the US market works and where and how you can find your place within it.
*All data sourced from Beverage Information Groupand Images contributed by MHW Ltd
Meininger’s Wine Business International is a media partner of USATT and will be present at the event. The information in this article was supplied by USATT.
About USA Trade Tasting: USA Trade Tasting (USATT) is an annual trade tasting and business conference, open to trade professionals only, which takes place on March 21-23, 2015, at the Metropolitan Pavilion, in New York City, USA. USATT showcases exciting wines, beers and spirits from all over the world to USA importers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and press. For more information on attending the USA business conference or how to exhibit at USATT please visit their website www.usatradetasting.com
