2024 SVB Annual State of the Wine Industry Report
May 2023 | 2 min read
SVB 2024 Annual State of the Wine Industry Report
Written by Jeanette Tan | Photo by Kelsey Chance @kchance8
I found some very useful insights and suggestions in this year’s report. This report is always helpful, but during the budget process with my clients for 2024, we found huge cash flow issues, even with profitable wineries. So this year I listened for pointers to pass on to my clients and metrics to incorporate in our financial reviews.
Frankly, life has been a bit of a blur since the 2020 report was released in January 2020. This came out two months before lockdown, and I remember laughing when Rob said “you can sell wine even without a tasting room.” Just a few months later the wine industry found that this is possible. This report proves, one again, that it is a MUST READ for all winery owners.
Here are some of my favorite soundbites, comments, and musings from this years webinar
0:08 The days when wholesalers [distributors] are your bank are gone, because they are more picky now.
0:20 Rob finally acknowledged that there are 2 wine industries: the wholesale-focused wineries and the DTC or Premium focused wineries
0:22 Find more effective ways to use the resources that you have
0:26 Small wineries don’t have the analytics [but this is my comment: they have more than they think, but are not disciplined to review them]
0:40 Learn your systems better. Your team must master many core competencies and must be specialists in hospitality, email marketing, subscription memberships, and wholesale sales.
0:44 Be disciplined around which wines to produce: just because you grow it doesn't mean you should make it
0:47 Take the experience on the road
0:54 If you don’t pay attention you will be a statistic
1:00 Visitor count is down, but what about other metrics: avg sale, club conversion
1:02 Adapt your clubs to consumer shifts
1:07 Satellite tasting rooms are often treated by guests as Pub Crawls. They are having a different experience than they would have in your main tasting room. Remember to collect names and email addresses. It’s not always about selling
1:11 What do you stand for?
1:16 There is a cool price change chart
1:25 Wineries are gaining customers accidentally, not strategically
1:29 Survival of the fittest actually happens when you collaborate and join the herd
To watch the recording and download the report, go to the SVB WEBSITE
To read Rob McMillan’s blog SVB ON WINE
