If the participation at the seminar organised by ProChile on the sideline of Grand Hyatt Catad’Or wine competition held in Santiago and the subsequent follow up meetings and mails are an indication, Chilean producers are very excited about entering the Indian wine market, writes Subhash Arora who had made a presentation on the Indian wine industry.
 The seminar which attracted an overflowing house of producers was organised by ProChile with experts from India, Vietnam and Indonesia presenting the picture of the market in their respective countries including the perception of Chilean wines and the suggestions for their entering or increasing the market share.
While sharing the demographics of the country including those pertaining to wine, Arora clarified the often misunderstood fact that not only India was a Federal nation where each state had independence to decide their alcohol consumption and tax policy, Explaining to the audience he said Article 47 of Indian Constitution actively recommended to the states to implement prohibition except where the use of alcohol was considered good for health.
Ruing government’s failure to recognise the importance of wine as a healthy product when consumed in moderation, he said that one had to work within the realm of State laws, which slowly but surely were inching towards gradual liberalization with the government thawing a little.
Explaining the complex tax structure, Arora conceded that Chilean wines could well compete with the Indian wines if they offered value-for-money wines but at good quality. Warning the producers of selling cheap bulk wines, he gave them the mantra of 5Ps:
- Price- Focus on low prices but stay away from very cheap entry levels as decent, quaffable wines are the Indian wines are already available.
- Passion for India- It would help positively if one is positive towards India
- Partnership- One should look at the long term and seek partnerships of any form.
- Personal Appearance-
- Participation in wine shows, festivals and sending samples to various competitions
In addition, he advised the attending producers to also use the Sixth Sense-by securing
Payments.
 The seminar was also an eye opener in that a few producers had hairy tales to tell about some Indian importers. There are shmucks and shysters in every society and India may not be an exception. Giving details on this newsletter would be like printing a four-letter word –which is not the policy at delWine. But Arora did advise the audience to be careful and secure the payments.
Talking of importers, Arora emphasized that finding the right importer for wine was a big problem since there were so few of them and most of them had an importer already in place;
In his concluding remarks Arora reassured the audience that India continues to be a strong and developing wine market with roadblocks on the way and was expected to smoothen out within the next few years.
The seminar was found so successful, topical and useful that Arora was requested to present another similar one to an audience in a few days.
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