Developing countries produce at least 25 percent of the world’s wine. Only seen Argentinian wines on the shelf? That’s because barriers to entry here are so incredibly high that winemakers from most emerging markets—even the most talented ones—can’t get their wines to the United States.
That’s where we come in. Wine for the World is a premium, collaborative wine brand with a social mission. We partner some of the best U.S. winemakers with talented winemakers from developing countries to build bridges and open markets. We’re helping talented winemakers abroad and their emerging wine regions create inroads in the U.S, and contributing to economic development and professional opportunity by helping consumers do what they already love to do: explore.
By partnering with great U.S. winemakers, we guarantee to consumers that the wine quality will be high, which drives confidence in buying wines from developing countries—making it easier to take a small leap of faith.
Why wine? Impact—both in numbers and sense.
Here are numbers: Wine for the World provides support at different levels in the value chain to reduce those barriers to entry—both from the producer side and from the consumer side. By providing assurance to help drive wine sales in new regions, we are shifting consumer perceptions about wines from developing countries.
The economic impact can be profound. Using South Africa as an example, if our marketing efforts help increase the South African industry’s wine market share in the U.S. from 1 percent to 1.2 percent, over five years we can help contribute $100 million to the South African economy alone. By the way, this is absolutely attainable. Argentina’s wine industry boomed from 1.9 percent to 5.7 percent in the same period of time. We’re trying to be the launch pad.
And here’s the sense: Wine lets us discuss, and wine can be used to challenge. People love to share stories, including stories about wine. We like to know and talk about where a product comes from, how it is made, and who makes it. Our story is about international partnership—about the desire to work together to produce a beautiful product, and about opportunity. Perhaps if a product as sophisticated as wine can come from a developing country, and be high quality, it will challenge Americans’ thoughts about what is made in that region, and get us to think about what else can be (and is) produced.
My background isn’t in wine. It’s in international development. I have a strong passion for wine (yes, also drinking it; I thank my grandfather for that), and have tried to reconcile international development and wine for several years. Lucikly for me, I have found talented partners are excited to use their skills to give back to the wine industry abroad.
We designed a wine label that is totally unique. It is sleek, collaborative, and helps you get to know the winemakers. You can see our label and hear why our winemakers are excited, and help us reach our fundraising goal on Indiegogo page.
Wine for the World – Building Bridges in the Wine Industry from Wine for the World on Vimeo.
