VARketing!'s BC Wine Industry Analytics - Background
“Every winery, regardless of size, can leverage the analysis to craft better product positioning and improve sales” Chris Mark, Vintality
I have been tracking detailed BC wine industry performance since 2016. In 2018 I developed a complex model to forecast future acreage requirements to 2030 and beyond. In 2020 I released #BCwine2020 which brought together analysis not only in total sales by channel but enriched the data with geographic and wine type indicators and added a simplified forecast model.
Every winery is a unique entity within the industry and none are complete carbon copies of another. There are many variables that govern whether is winery achieves its goals ranging from location, size, wine types and capabilities (a multi-faceted category that can include brand reputation, winery visitor experience, staff skills, ownership goals) so while general industry data provides an overview, to take full advantage a winery needs something more than standard data. The original 60 page #BCwine2020 provides the high level insight and went towards defining benchmarks for some of the categories above. But the format has inherent limits.
Subsequent to the release of #BCWine2020 (see below to download a free copy), all the data was converted onto a Business Intelligence platform (Microsoft Power BI) so that it can be easily analysed, queried and presented to frame data specifically for the context required by any winery - you are not restricted to our standard classifications of price/size etc. Need to know what is happening in Pinot Gris $16.50 to $18.50 wholesale or retail, this is now a very quick process to generate the information.
The 2020 data has been extended and enriched as follows:
- Updated for 2021 (volume history now covers 2016 to 2021, value history 2017, 2020, 2021)
- Regions updated to include sub-GIs announced in 2022
- Segmentation by Brand, Winery and Group
- Brand Maturity
- Product Reputation scores - Vivino
- Wine Awards (Top two tiers) from NWAC, ACWC, BC Lt. Governor's, DWWA
- Winery Reputation Scores - TripAdvisor, Google and Vivino
- Winery Direct Selling Prices March 2022, July 2022 (see blog post)
- Comparative Import data by Price, Region, Wine Type (Variety), Vivino Score
- BC Retail Channel Mapping - Top 500 retail sellers of wine and BC wine in particular in 2021
Data refinement and enrichment is a continually evolving process, currently adding more qualitative categories for wineries. The foundation is SKU-level for 2016-2021 (excl. 2018) calendar years obtained from the BC Liquor Distribution Board (wholesale pricing for 2017, 2020, 2021) plus other commissioned custom segmentation reports and external data. I have cleaned up many errors in the LDB data both for BC wine sales and imports.
Putting all this together, especially when a winery's internal data is added to the picture, makes for powerful input to actionable decisions on a winery's approach to strategy, pricing, product opportunity and both tactical and long term planning.
The focus throughout is on BC red, white, rose and sparkling wines made from 100% BC-grown grapes whether VQA or not. ICB is NOT included as BC wine. Since 95% of all BC wine is sold in 750mL format, most reports focus on this segment.
See a demonstration of 2021 Analytics here (60 minutes) or book a free 40 minute personal demonstration by emailing [email protected] so you can see the breadth and flexibility we can bring to your winery.
While the analytics have been considerably refined in 2021, the written #BCwine2020 has useful background on how classifications have been developed and trends in evidence then are still generally valid. Download a free (original value $399) copy of the #BCwine2020 report.
Subscribers to #BCWine2020 received several updates in 2021. As the data was converted into Power BI, different dashboards became more practical. This downloadable file shows the progression of BC wine from 2016-2020.