Market Facts

Market Facts are the easy part – they are the water cooler subjects of the industry.

After recent conversations with high-level experience beverage folks it hit me like a ton of bricks: nearly everyone knows the facts, but very few are aware of the cause and effect. The facts are so obvious, it takes nothing but open eyes to gather them…

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The Easy Market Facts

Wine Directors are shifting jobs at an alarming rate.

Sommeliers have a platform.

Natural wine is polarizing.

Riesling sells more in theory than in practice. (the same applies to Sherry).

There are so many importer/distributors.

Restaurants are facing immense challenges and will likely perish.

There is a market correction coming.

Certain groups of buyers elude the three-tier system and sell wine to themselves to get the double dip.

The retail landscape is extremely competitive.

No buyer or customer needs another email.

More sales and less inventory.

Buyers in this market have a short attention span. (Can you blame them?)

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All of the above was true more than twelve years ago and will be true again next year.

Do you know the causes and effects of the above market facts so clearly you could write them on the wall in the dark? I may not be right, but I have an opinion on both based on experience and study. And – I am obsessed, exhilarated and at times tortured by this very picture.

I advise everyone to start here: am I asking the right questions? Am I just another person saying the same thing about this market that was said a decade ago?

Go deeper. Look for the little changes in the currents. This market is an ocean and most are just looking at the first frothy wave.

If you can get clear on the push and pull of the classic market conditions, you can find ways to connect wine better than before. And maybe, just maybe you can see a glimpse of what the future holds.