Why international wineries need to understand the destination before choosing the route
For an international winery looking at the U.S. market, Florida can be one of the most attractive places to start. It is large, diverse, heavily influenced by Latin American consumers, and offers opportunities across supermarkets, liquor stores, restaurants, hotels, wine shops, convenience stores, clubs, airports and other channels.
But getting wine into Florida and winning in Florida are two very different things.
The real objective is not simply to find an importer, receive a purchase order and ship a container. The outcome is sell-through: getting the right wine, at the right price, through the right distributor, into the right accounts—and ultimately generating reorders.
That requires starting with the market.
Start With the Destination and Work Backwards
One of the most important conversations we have with wineries is about price.
Producers naturally think in terms of their ex-cellar or FOB price. The market thinks differently. A distributor is asking: At what wholesale price can I sell this wine, and where can I sell it?
Understanding that number changes the conversation.
For example, depending on the category and origin, an entry-level wine might need to reach the market at approximately $4.25 wholesale per bottle. A premium wine may work around $8 wholesale, while a super-premium opportunity might begin around $17 wholesale.
These are not universal price rules. They are examples of how we approach the market: identify the opportunity first and then work backwards through distributor margin, importer margin, logistics and ultimately the price required from the winery.
Once you understand the destination, you can evaluate whether the existing portfolio has the right tools to attack that opportunity.
Sometimes the answer is already in the winery’s portfolio. Other times, the producer may need to rethink the packaging, bottle, label, positioning, story or cost structure.
The key is not changing a wine simply for the sake of changing it. It is finding the right home for the products the winery already has—and identifying what may be missing.
Florida Is Not One Wine Market
This is where Florida becomes particularly interesting.
A producer might look at Florida as one state. A distributor sees dozens of different opportunities.
In the Hispanic supermarket channel, retailers such as Sedano’s, Presidente Supermarket and Navarro provide access to a large Latin consumer base. Independent supermarkets, including many associated with the National Supermarket Association (NSA), represent another important part of the market.
Then there is the broader grocery business, including Publix, Winn-Dixie and Aldi, alongside club opportunities such as Costco.
The premium grocery consumer requires another strategy altogether. The Fresh Market, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts and Milam’s Market can provide a very different environment for a wine brand.
Liquor and wine retail is another business, with accounts ranging from Total Wine & More and ABC Fine Wine & Spirits to regional and independent liquor and wine shops.
And we haven’t even reached the on-premise market.
Restaurants Are a Different Game
Florida’s restaurant and hospitality market creates another enormous opportunity.
At Toral Wines & Spirits, our work has exposed us to very different types of on-premise accounts—from restaurant groups such as Ceviche 105 and Sushi Maki, to hotel programs including Marriott properties, to venues such as Gulfstream Park, and hundreds of independent restaurant accounts.
Miami International Airport adds another interesting dimension. High-volume restaurant concepts operating inside the airport—including recognizable South Florida names such as La Carreta—show how many different opportunities can exist within a single metropolitan market.
A wine that works in a Latin supermarket may not be the wine for a premium hotel. A product built for a $4.25 wholesale opportunity has a completely different job than one designed for an upscale wine list.
Even within the same distributor, different managers and sales teams may be responsible for grocery, independent supermarkets, liquor stores, hotels, restaurants, wine shops, convenience stores or key accounts.
That complexity is something producers thousands of miles away from the market can easily underestimate.
The First Container Is the Beginning, Not the Finish Line
One of my favorite moments in this business happens when a sales representative calls me from the street.
Sometimes a rep will tell me that they walked into an account intending to present another wine, only to hear:
“We already carry that brand.”
And it happens to be a brand we helped introduce and develop.
That is when I know something is working.
Success isn’t simply seeing the wine arrive at a warehouse. It is when salespeople start seeing the brand in restaurants, stores and wine lists without expecting to find it there.
That’s the outcome.
The brand has started developing a life in the market.
Find the Right Home for the Wine
For wineries in Spain, Chile, Argentina, Italy and other producing countries looking at the United States, the question shouldn’t simply be:
“How do I sell my wine in Florida?”
A better question is:
“Where does my portfolio fit in Florida, and which importer-distributor has the resources, relationships and sales organization to take it there?”
That is the conversation that needs to happen before chasing purchase orders.
At Toral Wines & Spirits, we help wineries and brands enter and grow in the U.S. market by understanding their portfolio, identifying the right market opportunity and connecting them with the importers and distributors capable of executing it.
Our mission is to find the right home for every wine and build long-term partnerships that create brands—not just shipments.
