E J Gallo wineries: A case study

Bonny Doon Vineyards, a successful winery business based in Santa Cruz, California, has grown from selling 5,000 cases of wine a year in 1981 to 200,000 cases a year in 1999. To keep growing and be more profitable, the business must choose amongst three possible strategic directions. The first strategy is to start importing wines from Europe into the United States. The second alternative is branching into a retail outlet for unusual wines of great value, accompanied by a high level of service. Lastly, the business’ D.E.W.N could be expanded to include wines not made by the company itself but by other wineries that follow the same values and philosophy.

Ms. Quintana CEO of Northern Napa Valley Winery Inc. was considering conducting business with Trans Continental stores to sell excess grapes from the 2008 harvest. Prior to making a decision Quintana must determine how much of the harvest should be retained for the production of Northern Napa’s own red table wine. Quintana realized that the quantity of red table wine produced is closely associated to the sales.

The structure of the wine industry is quite different around the world. The barrier to entry is relatively higher in the New World than in the Old World. Referring to the market data on the level of concentration in 1998, people can see a few players dominate the markets in Australia and the U.S. while the level of concentration is quite low in Europe. Therefore, the rivalry in Old World is intense there.

The premium wine segment is quite concentrated with high barriers to entry making mergers and acquisitions a strong and prevalent growth strategy. With industry analysts forecasting the demand for premium wine to grow at 8% to 10% per year, many former non-rivals are now becoming a threat. Jug wine producers are entering the premium market and beer and spirit producers

The dynamics of the global wine industry are better understood through a brief history of wine as well as an overview of the wine making process. Some countries have longer historical and cultural ties with wine then others and that can affect the quality and perception of the product in the eyes of the consumer. Also, the conditions in which the wine grapes are raised and the processes used to make the wine can create a superior wine and therefore a competitive advantage.

Wine production involves two parts of economic activity – viticulture and wine making in the winery. In the global context, wine production is dynamic due to the influence of globalization, technological advancements and extensive research. These have essentially influenced the nature, spatial patterns and the ecological dimensions of the wine industry.

The key issues of this force are the ease with which a wine producer can switch between the different input suppliers and of course the bargaining power of both the supplier’s and the buyer's (in this case the wine company's) party.

Starting your own wine business is not the everyday business opportunity that everyone can simply jump into, because there are many aspects to consider in starting a winery. Conceivably the most fundamental problem an entrepreneur will face after expressing an interest in starting a new business or taking advantage of visible opportunity in an existing business or entirely new venture will be to conclude the feasibility study of the proposed venture and that study is simply the evaluation of a plan intended to determine the complexity in

Chateau de Margaux is one of the world’s most renowned premium wine brands for many decades. Their wine offerings include only the first-growth and the second-growth wines. The company been profitable and is considered a very highly reputable and successful premium wine brand from the region of Bordeaux, France. Being successful and profitable often bring up questions like, how can the company do better? With the increasing demand for wine around the world and the increase of number in new wine producers around the world with exceptional potential, could the Chateau de Margaux still be competitive in the future? What are the possible ways for this company to expand and what are the pros and cons of each?

However, Bonny Doon is vulnerable and reliant on its suppliers, as 80% of the firm’s grapes are bought from external growers. Bonny Doon requires unpopular grape varieties and grapes that meet high quality specifications (which decreases agricultural yields and creates a trade-off for growers). They need to develop long-term relationships with the growers to ensure uniformity and high production quality with respect to the firm’s key product input: grapes. On the other side of the value chain, the firm has preferred small-medium sized distributors for their product. This has enabled them to retain higher profits, despite selling wine in smaller quantities.

The supply of grapes, apples, bulk wine and grape juice concentrate for Vincor’s wine products comes from a combination of sources. Privately owned vineyards (Canada, U.S., Australia) provide somewhere between 35% to 57% of the raw products needed to

While bargaining power of buyers is ranked the least important of the five factors for Mondavi’s strategy, its importance should not be understated. One of the Wine is typically sold to wholesalers who then distribute to retail outlets. With the decreasing number of wholesalers and the consolidation of retailers, buyers negotiating power is increasing. It is difficult for companies like Mondavi to make consistent profits and maintain market share if they cannot keep products on retailers’ shelves.

E. & J. Gallo Winery was founded by Ernest and Julio Gallo in 1933. Since then it operated as a privately owned and family-operated corporate. The Gallo family is very knowledgeable from growing grapes process until to own and operating distributorships. Hence, Gallo Winery must retain this family business and pass it to another generation. In short they are advised to concentrate on their single business, such as concentrating on growing grapes. They can conduct an in-depth research and development on growing grapes. Hence they can have a better resource which is grapes from their competitor. Maintaining on their single business is an idea for them to reduce the size

Wine consumers hardly think about price when it comes to buying. For the lower grad cheaper wines, the power of the buyer is greater; but when in comes to premium brands of wine, the power of the buyer is low.

7 What role have the wine buyers (end users and others in the supply chain) played in contributing to the fall in demand for cork as a closure?