The U.S. Drinks Conference, the industry-leading forum for suppliers looking to enter the American drinks market, took its show on the road to Santiago, Chile to conduct an educational one-day seminar for over 100 representatives of the Chilean wine industry on July 27. The program, which is catered to address the needs of wine suppliers in Chile, comes four months after the successful partnership of USDC with the educational programming of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America 69th Annual Convention & Exposition in April 2011.
“Wines of Chile has been a leader among country wine trade promotion organizations in educating their producers and we were thrilled to be invited to take the USDC on the road,” said Steve Raye, Managing Partner of Brand Action Team, one of the organizers of the conference.
Lori Tieszen, Executive Director of Wines of Chile USA, added, “It is a great way to bring the very unique content of the conference to a much broader audience of producers and members of the Chilean export wine trade.”
Key topics covered included U.S. market volume and trends presented by Mike Ginley of Next Level Marketing. John Beaudette of MHW Ltd. followed with an overview of the U.S. three-tier system, and Steve Raye shared insights into the use of Social Media Marketing. In addition, a panel of five U.S. importers was available to meet with prospective wineries and share their insights in how best to match the needs and wants of suppliers and importers. Importers participating included Glenn Albright of International Spirits and Wine, Cesar Bistue of Wine Bridge Imports, Brad Ish from American Beverage Group, Johann Meisenheimer of Indigo Wine Imports, and Sarah Lanzen of Niche Imports.
