Wines of Chile unveils new marketing strategy focused on premium wines

Wines of Chile has embarked upon a new strategy in which it will only be promoting those wines which sell for over £10 in the UK or $15 in the US.    

In future, “all activities” would be concentrated on Chile’s top end wines, according to Wines of Chiles commercial director Angélica Valenzuela, which she defined as those with a US$60FOB per case export price, which was the rough equivalent of £10 a bottle in the UK, $15 in the US and ¥150 in China.

  “We really want to premiumise, because we have really great wines and we need to change the perception of Chile to one as a premium wine producer,” she told Drinks Business. She conceded that the majority of Chilean wines were priced below $60FOB, but said that it was “vital” that the country promoted its more premium offering for the long term benefit of Chile’s wine producers, who are facing ever rising costs.  

And with the majority of growth coming from higher priced wines, it made commercial sense to focus on that sector of the business, she added. “Although 20% of Chilean exports are over $60FOB, now we are really growing over this price."

One of Chile’s key markets is China,where the country has a strong wine producing image, according to Valenzuela, and is regarded as a producer of quality wine that teams well with local Chinese cuisines.   However, the FOB price of Chielan exports to China currently sits at US$1.37, way below the $60 cut off for the new marketing approach.  

“We have a lot of work to do, but I am focused on China because it is really a growing wine market and per capita consumer is very low, just 1.6 litres per head, and imported wine alone is less than 1l, so the potential is huge."   

As the third largest imported wine in China after France and Australia, Chilean wines have been benefiting from Chinese investment in recent years. For example, Changyu took an 85% share in the Chilean Indomita Wine Company last year, while Yanghe Distiller Co took a 12.5% share in Chile’s VSPT Wine group earlier this year.    

Valenzuela said that the trade body had come up with”four pillars” for its communication strategy. These include quality and diversity, with the main focus being on Chile’s three key wine growing regions; innovation, to show the world that Chile has more to offer than Cabernet Sauviginon; sustainability, concerning not just the environment, but also the community around the winery; and finally, promoting Chile as a country, incorporating its culture, food, geography and, of course, wine.