I was talking to an exec from one of the largest wine importers in the country the other day about how the pandemic has thrown the wine industry off its game. There are more sommeliers out of work now than there are staffing restaurants. Most wine retail takes place at curbside pickup or delivery. Tasting […]
Common sense to help the economy?
Having spent this week watching my investments fall and worrying about a global pandemic, I got to thinking today about how the economy could get some juice. The pundits, politicians and media are all expecting the Fed to drop interest rates but I got to wondering how that might help instill confidence, which is what’s […]
EU wineries will be making a mistake if they leave the U.S. market
How’s your Spanish? The headline of the article above in the Spanish business paper, El Economista from the other day reads: “Spanish wine sinks in the US due to tariffs and wineries are already preparing for withdrawal from the market”. The article goes on to say that many Spanish wineries are considering leaving the U.S. market altogether. The same […]
The problem with algorithms and why we created Oomiji
Algorithms, the core formula behind Big Data, are not objective facts. They are opinions embedded in math, In the words of US data scientist Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction (2016). Watch this brief entertaining video to better understand how algorithms work as well as the potential mistakes we make in relying too […]
Solving the challenge of marketing foreign wine in the U.S.
(I wrote this with the upcoming VinExpoNY in mind but since it applies to so many industries, I decided to post it here.) With VinExpoNY fast approaching, I’ve been thinking about the challenges in front of thousands of foreign wine producers who are trying to develop and cultivate a market in the U.S. While the challenges […]
How’s your UK wine business? Time for plan B(rexit)!
With the London Wine Fair arriving in a few weeks, companies that aren’t already re-evaluating their UK sales and marketing strategy will hear plenty at the exposition. As David Williams recently wrote in the Guardian (Wine and the Brexit Effect), “nobody has any idea what’s going to happen next.” So, with that bit of wisdom, you can […]
DTC Wine Shipments are growing at a record pace. How long will it last?
There’s no question that DTC wine sales are growing at a dramatically rapid pace. According to Sovos ShipCompliant’s 2017 DTC Report, shipment volume increased more than 17% last year with similar growth expected this year. The potential seems unlimited with 45 states now allowing direct wine shipments. Three states, California, Texas and New York account for nearly half […]