WSWA found a solution to the latest challenges facing the wine industry. As we know the wine industry faces hurdles not faced 10 years ago such as dry January, competition from cannabis and the non-alcohol space, zealous government officials attacking wine’s health impact, and younger drinkers shying away from alcoholic beverages.
According to WSWA’s latest musings, the solution or opportunity for recovery for wine is leaning more into the three-tier system.
Using their own data source, SipSource, WSWA concludes “the three-tier system is outperforming direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales volume, underscoring the need to focus on these areas for growth.”
And to regain its footing “wineries should prioritize collaboration with wholesalers.” Now there is no explanation given for how the smallest of wineries should prioritize this collaboration with wholesalers, when in reality wholesalers won’t bother even looking at a small winery as a viable option to distribute.
If you don’t believe me, go to your local liquor store and ask for Bear Creek Winery from Alaska, I guarantee you will be met with a blank stare!
Not to be outdone in proffering solutions, WSWA tells us what happened, and how we can drill down to the cause of the problem.
WSWA’s statement indicates that DTC wines dropped according the SOVOS and WineBusiness Analytics report faster than when compared to on and off premise sales data from SipSource.
WSWA maintains this decline is “driven by rising shipping costs, regulatory scrutiny over tax compliance, and concerns about underage access.”
After citing the SOVOS data, WSWA failed to take into account the reasons SOVOS proffered for the decrease in DTC shipments. The reasons cited included competition from cannabis, inflation, and shifting consumer preferences. None of which WSWA accounts for.
WSWA relying not on data but more on propaganda holds that regulatory scrutiny over tax compliance and concerns about underage access as two of the main reasons for decreasing wine sales. Problematically, there is not one credible study they identified that agrees with this conclusion. Why, because these factors don’t exist and hence without an existence, they can’t drive anything.
The VinoShipper White Paper Study debunked the myth about online sales and underage purchases, which ironically underage sales are more likely to occur in a brick-and-mortar setting that goes through the three-tier system than online.
Further, WSWA can point to no study that licensed wine shipper are being scrutinized over dodgy tax operations. Why, because this study does not exist.
In essence, WSWA put out a piece identifying problems that don’t exist and solutions that make no sense.
Wine faces headwinds there is no doubt. But the system that stunts its growth is not the solution. Since interstate DTC shipping became legalized in Granholm the number of wineries has doubled. The three-tier system did not create that growth, DTC shipping did. If we revert to relying on the three-tier system and less on the DTC shipping system, we will undoubtedly have less wineries and less wine growth.
So has the WSWA solution, solved the riddle of the Sphinx? The answer is no as they desire to implement solutions that will take us back to less wineries and lower growth. The riddle of the sphinx for the alcohol industry is that enhanced access and opportunity is the only way to prosperity.
How to face the headwinds, fight the propaganda attacking the industry, extoll the positive benefits, make the case for why your product is better than the alternatives, and let opportunity and freedom reign!
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