According to foreign data supplied by ICE in New York and processed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it seems that Italian wines triumph in export, with an increase of + 9.6% compared to 2012. Italian wines surpass French ones and their share of the market increases for more than one percentage point. On the other hand, Italian sparkling wines are still far from the record held by Champagne, although a + 12.54% compared to 2012 has been recorded.
But it does not seem that everything is as straightforward as one could think.
Antonio Lucarelli, responsible of ‘Food and Wine’ for ICE in New York, said: «The U.S. market is highly competitive, with distribution channels which is not easy to enter without significant promotional long-term investments. In Italy the idea that it is easy to sell new Made in Italy food products to Americans is widespread. This is a sort of revival of the American dream, but unfortunately it is not so true: Made in Italy food and wine is going through a favourable time characterized by an important popularity in the USA, but you have to know the rules of the US market, in order to enter it and stay there. It is not enough to land in the USA without a long-term project and targeted investments. The US market is primarily a brand one, rather than oriented to the product. So, for small companies characterized by their quality, which constitute the largest part of Italian companies, it is crucial to work on their brand, by means of the support of a communication project which acts towards both industry and consumers. Another aspect is the one concerning American laws: it is necessary to know perfectly the rules of Food and Drug Administration as well as the ones concerning labeling of the different products. However, the main challenge still consists in finding an importer and entering the different distribution channels: the operators of the distribution tend to focus on private labels or work with brands on which they have already invested in order to promote them». Gino Colangelo of ‘Colangelo & Partners’, a marketing and integrated communications agency whose headquarters is in New York, specialized in food, wine & spirits, insists on the concept of quality: «It is the only one which can justify a medium/high pricing and allow earning continuous shares of the market».
