Marketing Wine to India

 Marketing Wine to India. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Washington wines are quickly becoming known around the globe and according to Ryan Pennington, Public Relations Director for the Washington State Wine Commission, they have begun a new marketing push in India.

PENNINGTON: Next month we are taking a group of wineries for several event in India in Mumbai and New Delhi and we’re very excited about the market in general. Markets like China and others get the majority of attention but there are several emerging markets that we think hold great promise for Washington and India is certainly one of them.

India is not known as being a very large wine producer.

PENNINGTON: There is some very limited domestic production there but that industry is really in it’s infancy and the vast majority of the wine markets there are imports.

The Washington wine export market is still a relatively small piece of the whole puzzle but Pennington says they are building it piece by piece.

PENNINGTON: It’s really about building a pipeline of new markets that can help sustain the growth of the industry over time. At 700 plus wineries we’re certainly no small player but most wineries are still selling the vast majority of everything they make right here in our own back yard. And that’s great in the short term but as we approach 1500 - 2000 wineries or more, we’re going to need homes for that product outside the northwest.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.