Harvard Case

Bonny Doon Vineyards, a successful winery business based in Santa Cruz, California, has grown from selling 5,000 cases of wine a year in 1981 to 200,000 cases a year in 1999. To keep growing and be more profitable, the business must choose amongst three possible strategic directions. The first strategy is to start importing wines from Europe into the United States. The second alternative is branching into a retail outlet for unusual wines of great value, accompanied by a high level of service. Lastly, the business’ D.E.W.N could be expanded to include wines not made by the company itself but by other wineries that follow the same values and philosophy.

The structure of the wine industry is quite different around the world. The barrier to entry is relatively higher in the New World than in the Old World. Referring to the market data on the level of concentration in 1998, people can see a few players dominate the markets in Australia and the U.S. while the level of concentration is quite low in Europe. Therefore, the rivalry in Old World is intense there.

Smaller firms such as the family run operations in Europe may not be able to realize these same cost efficiencies. Furthermore, grapes represent 50 to 70% of a winemakers COGS, thus the competition for sourcing high quality grape growers is quite high. Just as Mondavi does for 75% of its purchases, most premium wine makers enter into long-term contracts with growers to not only ensure that their demand is met but also to make sure that they receive grapes that are consistent in quality.

The dynamics of the global wine industry are better understood through a brief history of wine as well as an overview of the wine making process. Some countries have longer historical and cultural ties with wine then others and that can affect the quality and perception of the product in the eyes of the consumer. Also, the conditions in which the wine grapes are raised and the processes used to make the wine can create a superior wine and therefore a competitive advantage.

1. How has the Investment Office selected, compensated, and controlled private equity fund managers? What explains the differences between their strategy in private equity with that in other asset classes (e.g., real estate)?

The most important necessary inputs for the production of wine are grapes, bottles and labor. Concerning the grapes, there is an outstanding difference between the traditional wine producing countries for example in Europe (the south of France, Spain, Italy and Southeastern Europe) and big wine factories that operate as oligopolies like in the US and Australia. Due to the bond to traditions and the higher demand for quality in Europe most of the wineries here still stick to the original way of producing wine, including the growth of the grapes on the land around the winery, a so called vertical integration (which is often considered by producers where the supplier's price is too high or the offer is insufficient, in our case this trend results rather in traditional and cultural values than in financial ones). This eliminates the percentage of dependence on agricultural suppliers significantly, whereas concerning a big wine company the negotiation power of the supplier is quite high. These wine companies tend to have a low sensitivity towards the price they are charged, as grapes are a crucial component of wine production. However, in both cases the price of the grapes is always

From our group opinion we think that Chateau Margaux should not extend its product line. Chateau Margaux is connoisseur brand which has limited brand awareness and limited target group, which is the strong part that keeps Chateau Margaux stands on top rank wine in consumer mind. Extend the product line of Chateau Margaux could cause wrong perception among consumers. Moreover the product quality control for Chateau Margaux is highly strict and limited, so to add more product line on its regular basis production can cause the average quality of entire product drop down as well.

The scope of the innovation expertise that New World wine producers have is value-chain wide in scope, and in-depth enough to completely re-order manufacturing, fermentation, distribution channel, pricing, marketing and customer service (Cholette, 2009). New World wine producers

However, Bonny Doon is vulnerable and reliant on its suppliers, as 80% of the firm’s grapes are bought from external growers. Bonny Doon requires unpopular grape varieties and grapes that meet high quality specifications (which decreases agricultural yields and creates a trade-off for growers). They need to develop long-term relationships with the growers to ensure uniformity and high production quality with respect to the firm’s key product input: grapes. On the other side of the value chain, the firm has preferred small-medium sized distributors for their product. This has enabled them to retain higher profits, despite selling wine in smaller quantities.

Vincor does market wine alternatives itself, as a way of dealing with substitute demand. Vincor makes cider and has a wine kit business division (Spagnols) that gives Vincor some product diversification. Partly because of the ease of competition and as part of the differentiation and protection of the Canadian wine industry, Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), a quality assurance program that identifies Canadian premium grape content, assists in making start-up more difficult for those wishing to emulate Canadian wine brands. The dollars spent on marketing and brand loyalty play a large part in protecting market share and there are certain absolute cost advantages that contribute to establishing some barriers to new competition. Ultimately, there is little cost to the consumer when considering switching brands. Experimentation in wine drinking is often a characteristic of the wine drinking market and thus can contribute to promoting new substitute entry into the market.

Since Cork’d inception in February 2006, the company was designed for and by wine lovers. Time showed that this industry had such a demand that needed more dedication and that is when

Wine consumers hardly think about price when it comes to buying. For the lower grad cheaper wines, the power of the buyer is greater; but when in comes to premium brands of wine, the power of the buyer is low.

This industry has seen very limited growth since 1986. Based on Exhibit 4 (C-271, the total wine consumption in the US) and Exhibit 5 (C-271, per capita wine consumption in the US) the wine industry is in the maturity stage. It could

Making wine is nothing else but a touch of passion, love and few drops of magic. From the first view, wine industry seems very artistic and secret at the same time. There is no doubt that hearing that Robert Mondavi Corporation is going to layoff 4% of its workforce ring the bell to the investors, at the same type the stock price dropping down dramatically makes an impression that the company is going through difficult period as the senior management is upon completing the reconfiguring future strategy. The big decision is whether to get back to original vision, and focus on the domestic market, which bring a 90% of revenues or continue diversification and keep on pursuing the vision of

Chateau Margaux is one of the five first-growth Bordeaux wine producer; it and has one of the finest names of Bordeaux and the number of drinkers worldwide is growing through the years. Chateau Margaux’s wines are used by the connoisseurs and luxury consumers. They are facing an uncertain future, because of losing market to New World producers (such as California, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) which have lower prices and more accessible flavours. Nowadays wine drinkers are changing tastes, which could cause a big problem.