Indonesia will buy no wine before its time<\/p>\n
By David Zweifler<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): California wine makers are adopting a contrary
\napproach to wine making. To many, this would seem a bad time to
\nget involved with the Indonesian wine market. Others would say
\nthat there never was a good time to get involved with the
\nIndonesian wine market. So why, last Friday and Saturday, were
\nEric P. Wente and James Fetzer hosting a promotional event here
\nin Jakarta?<\/p>\n
They're banking on the future. "We believe in getting in on
\nthe ground floor and investing from the beginning. It's good to
\nget in first and it's good to do your homework," Fetzer
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
Eric P. Wente and James Fetzer are two well known California
\nwine businessmen. Anyone from the United States who's ever gone
\ninto a store to buy wine knows their product. At this press
\nconference, however, I was the only American and I was also the
\nonly one who had heard their names before.<\/p>\n
It's not surprising that the two gentlemen are unknowns here.
\nWine is a rarity in the marketplace and almost unknown outside of
\nthe expatriate community. It was very difficult to buy wine here
\nup until five years ago and, I'm told, shipments were usually so
\nmishandled that the wine was often undrinkable.<\/p>\n
Now, wine is widely available to the expatriate community
\nthrough wine societies and duty free shops. The people who buy
\nfrom these sources already know their wines and consume it on a
\nregular basis.<\/p>\n
Although the number of Indonesian wine consumers is still
\nquite small, this may change in the next five to 10 years.<\/p>\n
Challenges<\/p>\n
The obstacles that California wine makers face in the
\nIndonesian market are considerable. The hot climate which is
\nseemingly antithetical to alcohol consumption, the absence of a
\nwine making\/drinking tradition and the Islamic bias against
\nintoxicants make this an extremely difficult market to penetrate.<\/p>\n
Also, there are recent political hurtles, such as the new
\nduties on all foreign alcoholic beverages, which have raised the
\nprice of wine served in restaurants and hotels, and the current
\njoint military-police operation to take all alcohol off the
\nstreets.<\/p>\n
Fetzer and Wente are taking a long term approach to these
\nproblems, trying to seduce a market that probably doesn't know
\ntheir product and, if it does, might dislike it out of hand. This
\nwas reflected in their promotional strategy, which concentrated
\nmore on reaching expatriate wine-drinkers and hotel and
\nrestaurant owners who were buying for their clientele.<\/p>\n
"Right now we're trying to reach new customers through word of
\nmouth. Hopefully, Indonesians will go to a restaurant or a
\nfriend's house, taste a wine that they like and then want to have
\nit in their home," Alan K. Portney, Vice President of the
\nInternational Division of Fetzer vineyards explained.<\/p>\n
This scenario, where more experienced wine consumers expose
\ntheir friends to the joys of the wine, is a slow moving process.
\nTo help speed up this approach, the California wine makers are
\nconcentrating on having local retailers stock less expensive,
\n"novice" wines, which are better selections for the new wine
\ndrinker.<\/p>\n
"We market certain types of wine at the beginning so they
\nacquire a taste for it more easily," Fetzer said, referring to
\nthe sweeter, more fruity Chardonnay varieties, as opposed to the
\nheavier Cabernet Sauvingon and Cabernet Merlot.<\/p>\n
Competition<\/p>\n
It might seem that the Californians would be hamstrung by
\ncompetition from the French and the Australians. The French have
\nthe advantage of their world-wide reputation. The Australians,
\nsituated in Indonesia's back yard, have a natural geographical
\nadvantage.<\/p>\n
However, it turns out there is already a history of
\ncooperation between wine producers.<\/p>\n
"At the production level, there is a very strong community of
\nwine makers. The French go to California, the Californians go to
\nAustralia. Everyone has a very open and honest dialog and a very
\ngood relationship on the production level," Fetzer explained.<\/p>\n
He added that this exchange of information is leading to a
\nhomogenization of the market, where the reputation of a
\nparticular brand of wine will become more important than the
\nreputation of its country of origin.<\/p>\n
In terms of value, the quality of the wine set against its
\nprice, freight rates are currently on their way down due to
\nimproved technology and larger shipments, so the geographical
\nadvantage of Australia is probably going to be less and less
\nimportant in the coming years.<\/p>\n
However, competition between wine makers is not a major
\nconcern for the moment. Right now, the market is so small that
\nwhat's good for the French is good for the Australians and the
\nAmericans as well. By the same token, all the wine makers in this
\nmarket must work together to educate the Indonesian public and
\ncreate a demand where there was none before.<\/p>\n
Vinegar?<\/p>\n
For now, the main concern of all wine makers is education and
\nexposure.<\/p>\n
The task in Indonesia is slightly different than it is in the
\nU.S.: There people view wine as a beverage to be consumed only on
\nspecial occasions. Therefore, marketers are trying to get the
\npublic to serve wine with more mundane foods, to accentuate their
\ntaste and liven up an everyday meal.<\/p>\n
Here, it's less a matter of getting Indonesians to "try wine
\nwith pot roast," as getting them to try wine at all.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to tell at this point whether California wine
\nwill ever be a beverage that is popular outside of the expatriate
\ncommunity here in Indonesia. Certainly, it will not be sold in
\nlocal supermarkets, or served at state dinners, any time in the
\nnear future. However, it is not completely out of the hands of
\nthe Indonesian public; wine is creeping onto the menus of many
\nfine restaurants and into hotel dining rooms throughout the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
It is going to be some time before the Californians know if
\ntheir promotion volley was a success. Like an amateur collector
\nwho is keeping his stock in the cellar to age, they will have to
\nwait and see if they have a bottle of fine wine, or some very
\nexpensive vinegar.<\/p>",
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