The Strategy of Pricing Wine

Jon Fredrikson, principal with Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, said that in the past two years there have been more price changes—especially at the lower and higher price categories—and prices on the whole have been increasing. “It’s clear people are dealing with rising costs,” he said. 

Fredrikson was one of three experts discussing wine pricing at a forum hosted by Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute on Thursday night. About 70 people attended the event, part of an ongoing series of seminars and forums hosted by the school. Fredrikson was joined by Dr. Steven Cuellar, an SSU economics professor who studies the wine industry, and Chris Spear of TradePulse, a sales technology and information supplier to the wine industry. Another panel of experts discussed some of the major consumer trends in the wine industry Friday afternoon. 

A flood of imported bulk 

At the low end of the price spectrum, the industry’s major producers have had to import bulk wine to offset the lack of Californian wine. Fredrikson said that in the past 12 months, 40 million cases of bulk wine have been shipped through San Francisco alone. Most of the wine is coming from... read on