May 23, 2009
Global investments in wine increasing
I love wine. Even with as many headaches it may give me, I can’t help it. I’m still weeding out the “ones that cause headaches” with the wines that are “safe”. The New World wines, like California and Australia are on the “headache” list, though I love them. So, when I read a Tweet from the NY Times Dining this morning on investing in wine, it really caught my attention.
The article “Investing in Wine: Now May Be the Time” was pretty interesting. Not only did I learn that wine asset management is growing as it can now be traded as a commodity like pork bellies (or they are working towards it), but it also got me wondering…has there been a wine “bubble” or is the market just correcting itself?
Basically, wine is now like real estate. The prices of wine have decreased 20 to 40 percent on most vintages. What I found even more interesting correlates to my line of work in global marketing, emerging market populations in China, Brazil and Russia are starting to invest in wine on the open market. I know that China and Brazil produce their own wines (not sure about Russia). With the rise in incomes and lower prices, there has been an increase in investment, whether it be in real estate, wine or anything else (the capitalist way of supply and demand).
This is particularly true for my client, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), now marketing specialty cheese globally. With the emerging markets the CMAB is currently targeting (China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam), the rise in income brings demand of higher quality food and other products. Wine sales are also up in those countries.
Point being that we need to look outside the US, where 96 percent of the world’s population lives, in order to help pull us out of this global recession, whether they are investing in wine, pork bellies, real estate or toothbrushes. Believe it or not, the recession has not hit some countries as hard as others.
With global investments of wine increasing, this is very good news for the California cheese and wine industries!
April 26, 2009
Not everything goes smoothly sometimes…
Greetings from Vietnam!
For almost four months, I have been working on behalf of my client, the California Milk Advisory Board, to plan receptions and culinary training seminars in 5 Asian cities – Shanghai, Beijing, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Jakarta (photos/info to be posted soon). The Shanghai, Beijing and Manila activities occurred in March, while Saigon and Jakarta are in April. Saigon was last week to be exact.
In preparation for the activity in Saigon, I made a visit here before heading to Shanghai last month. I met with the Chamber of Commerce who were on the ground helping me plan the activities by inviting guests, getting in touch with the media, language translation, etc. I also met with the hotel to go through the reception plans, as well as what we needed for cooking demonstrations for the next day. It was all spelled out in the contract, “i’s were dotted, the “t”s were crossed. Somewhere between my visit and arriving back in Saigon, something went wrong…
The hotel representative who spoke better English than I left to get married. While I’m sure she tried (ok, I hope) to do her best in turning over my file/expectations, upon arrival, nothing went right. The deck ovens we needed were really not available in the first place…the entire reason why I chose the hotel ( I requested to do the training at a culinary school, but was told it was too far away–not sure if that’s correct but I have the USDA on it). All of our expectations, wishes, etc, were negated once the file was handed over to another banquet person. Had I known the hotel rep was leaving, I would have requested her replacement be at the meeting.
The lessons:
– Culture…”Yes” does not actually mean yes
– Communication…Everything can get lost in translation
– Flexibility…It’s a given that one needs to be flexible when working in international trade, I think this time took it to the limit.
– Patience…I have even more after this visit.
The resolution:
I had a meeting with the banquet manager and calmly let her know my dissatisfaction. She agreed that this was a learning lesson in that when dealing with Western cultures, don’t tell me yes when you can’t do it, just to get the business (did I mention this is a French owned/operated hotel?). Needless to say, I was not charged for a half day’s room rental.
As Westerners, we need to learn the culture/ways of business globally. But, when a hotel promises services it cannot deliver, it doesn’t matter what hemisphere one is from when their expectations are not met. One party is not going to be satisfied. During my meeting with the hotel rep, I also informed her of the inability to present a half day’s training to our target audience gave them the impression of inadequacy and totally ruined my relationship with the hotel. I would not be using/staying there when I return, nor will I recommend the hotel to the rest of my US counterparts who will be conducting activities in the city. The look on her face said it all…she understood what I was saying.
Let’s just hope everything goes smoothly in Jakarta. So far, my chef is delayed coming in from Saigon, the cheese that was shipped from the US hasn’t been released from customs and we HOPE it has been refrigerated since its arrival. The good news…I made it through customs with the cheese I had to bring for the chef…
March 10, 2009
US Commercial Real Estate…a bargain for global investors
As the US real estate market continues to find the floor in terms of prices, two Atlanta lawyers are looking around the world to find investors.
Abe Schear and Philip Skinner, partners at Atlanta’s Arnall Golden Gregory, note global buyers seek long-term investment properties. In addition to falling real estate prices in the US, currency valuations make purchases in the US extremely attractive. For more, see the interview.
February 9, 2009
Chris G and the Super Bowl Wine Showdown
Friday, January 30, marked the third and last installment, the “Super Bowl” of the wine challenge “taste-offs” between my client Chris Gaither, “The Wine Guy”, and his friendly rival, John Hall, owner of Hall’s of Fine Wine, in Inman Park.
Gaither (left) and Hall (right) give explanations about their wine selections.
Previously, there have been two taste-offs, one in October and November 2008. It has been billed as “Old School vs. New School” of wine consultants. So far, to my knowledge, there have not been any events like this in Atlanta, where two wine consultants present their wine selections to tasters in individual rounds.
The tasters sample the wines with food pairings and vote who had the better recommendation. Obviously, the one who wins the majority of rounds wins the taste-off. Gaither beat Hall on his own turf in October and the November duel ended in a draw.
Red wines featured by Gaither were:
- Calcu, Chile
- Zantho, Burgenland, Austria
- Fleuron que Vignes, Gigondas, France
- CARM, Douro, Portugal
- Saint Benoit, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, France
Red wines featured by Hall:
- Don Ramon, Rioja, Spain
- Saumur, Saumur, France
- Martin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry Creek Valley, CA
- Martin Bru, Prioriat, Spain
- Hoopes Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, CA
The taste-off, once again, ended in a tie.
Not only were tasters introduced to some fantastic wines, they were also treated to some deletable bites created by Alonso Beckford, sous chef at TWO Urban Licks in Atlanta.
Beckford featured:
- Smoked trout cucumber salad
- Vegetable ragu roll with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs
- Stuffed capricola roll with sun-dried cherries and sage
- Marinated flank steak with arugula salad
Gaither is available for private/corporate events and wine menu consulting. He is also fluent in Spanish.
January 16, 2009
Welcome to the Glocal Consulting blog!
Thank you for checking out Glocal Consulting’s blog!
The blog will cover marketing and PR concepts, conducting business in global markets, local events (Atlanta, GA and Southeastern US), trips on behalf of clients, as well as small business issues. For the most part, it will be a monthly blog, but depending on how busy Glocal is, there may be increased posts.
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Glocal Consulting Blog 