The wine sector is one of the leading sectors of Italian exports. In 2017, the sales of Italian wine on the international markets exceeded 1.8 billion dollars, while between January and April 2018, our exports grew by 16.2%, confirming Italy’s first position among suppliers on the US market, both for quantity and value, with a 32.6% share. In 2017, the US confirmed itself as the world's main market for wine consumption: of the 53 billion dollars spent, 15 went to imported wine. The per capita purchase is around 11 litres.
Starting from these numbers, the Ministry of Economic Development has established a"USA Wine Table" with a working group that includes Federvini, Federdoc, Uiv and ICE, the Italian Trade Agency, with the aim of defining strategies to promote and support the wine sector in the US market.
The "Newcomer USA" project is aimed at companies not present in the US or that in the last two years have exported on average less than 5% of annual production. The participation requirements are:
· Current minimum annual production capacity: 30 thousand bottles;
· Growth margins in production: capacity to increase by 10%;
· Maximum re-stocking time: 15 working days;
· Current presence in other foreign countries with export turnover exceeding 30%;
· Dedicated and personal export sales department with excellent knowledge of English;
· Website in English and presence on social media;
· Participation in trade fairs and reviews in specialized magazines;
· Ability to face an annual investment of at least 8 thousand euro regardless of sales performance for the first three years;
· Availability to dedicate 6-8% of the turnover developed in free samples of the product to spread the knowledge in the market for the first 3 years
The project lasts 18 months (1 October 2018 - 2 March 2020) and the activities will be divided into three phases: verification of minimum requirements and admission of companies (Phase 1); training and definition of company strategy (phase 2) and identification and development of business relationships (phase 3).
The interested companies have until September 28 to join. For more information and how to join, follow the link