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“Georgian wines have new opportunities to find other markets”
Since ancient times Georgia is considered to be one of the basic centers of grape-vine occurrence and recognized as native land of cultural wine growing, that is proved by the numerous figures of the botanical, archeological, historical and linguistic surveys conducted. The century-old history of Georgian winemaking is rather original. During the excavations, conducted in Mtskheta, were found big clay wine jags, called "Kvevri" were found, which are used for making and storing the wine nowadays as well. The wine seeds are found in the graves of bronze epoch.
The ceramics that are found at excavations of graves in Alazani valley are dated by the first millennium BC, that testifies that their owners were engaged in grape growing. There are also found gold, silver and bronze subjects for storing the wine, referring to the second and third millenniums BC and found various vessels for Feast. The rich land of Georgia, burning sun, mild climate and hard work has developed about 500 varieties of aborigine wine which considered being the most important imprints of our material culture.
Q: As the Chairman of the Georgian Wine Producer’s Union, could you make diagnostics of the Georgian wines in general?
A: I think Georgian wine makers should improve the grapes quality paying more attention to their vineyards, surely we have good quality grapes but it needs development. I also suggest that it is necessary to put investments in wine production to maintain and develop the quality of wines. And if this is achieved we will have more possibilities to open new markets.
Q: Could you speak about ban of import of Georgian wines in Russian market?
A: This decision by Russian side was quiet vague for us. I think this was rather political decision then attempt to fight against falsification. But still we are ready to discuss the case together with the Russian side, Georgian government sent lot of letters confirming that we are ready for dialogue and negotiations and the position of businessmen and government are the same in this regard but despite the good will expressed by us nobody is responding. This fact also proves that this is political issue.
Q: Well it is a good reason to search for new markets,,,
A: Yes, you are right, besides the case had a good covering that resulted in good promotion of the Georgian wines worldwide providing new opportunities for finding new markets. Georgian wine makers became more motivated to target western markets and I myself right now keep negotiations with Brazilian market and as I know other wine makers also think of deals in countries that were not targeted before. Georgian wine has excellent background and good marketing story and I think we will use this opportunity even though we understand that this will not be easy to do.
Q: And what are your specific plans for the US market?
A: In the result of the discussions with the government we worked out the action plan. There are tree types of total wine markets for us, first is the markets where we already export our production like Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Baltic states etc, and we are creating special policy and marketing strategy to better promotion and advertise the categories of the Georgian wine and the government and some International organizations like EBRD, IFC are promising to give a hand. We also intend to fight with the falsification of Georgian wine as in Baltic countries there were revealed cases when falsified wines produced there were sold under the names of famous Georgian wines. The second type of market is the countries where there is an awareness of Georgian wines but they are not broadly presented there like in Holland and the third category are the countries we are not presented at all like US and UK markets. UK wine consumption in about 4 billion USD but we should convince the world that Georgia wine is something new, something different, as Georgian wine has unique variety.
Q: Do you have a special market for promoting your products?
A: Yes, and there is a special budget referring to each above mentioned groups but the most amount of finances are allocated for the first group.
Q: Let’s talk about GWS, Could you tell me the history of your company?
A: GWS is one of the first joint-stock companies producing wine and spirits in Georgia. The company has been operating since 1994. From the first a project for setting up GWS had been carried out jointly with the Dutch Royal Cooymans, the affiliated company of Pernod Ricard Group. Pernod Ricard is the world's outstanding holding company producing and distributing spirits and owning a market network throughout the world.
Q: And what is the situation in this moment?
A: At present the company can successively match the rich traditions of Georgian viticulture with the world's modern achievements, the quality progressively becomes better and the assortment is constantly increasing. GWS has made one step foreword within the structure of Pernod Ricard Group and presently it takes the same position in the structure as does the company's primary founder Royal Cooymans now operating under the name of Pernod Ricard Netherlands.
Q: You have two main wine brands, but could you speak about your products?
A: Tamada is the premium wine with high price positioning. The range of wines with the "Tamada" label present an exciting opportunity to discover different and extraordinary flavors and taste the modern expression of an ancient Georgian tradition. Old Tbilisi is with a middle price positioning. Besides we produce strong spirits Chacha.
Q: In which countries do you export your products?
A: We are exporting our products in more than sixteen countries, all CIS countries, plus Ukraine market, Japan, USA. I want to mention that GWS produces high quality products and that we are relevant for not only CIS markets but for western markets as well. The company after 10 years of successful work has received more than 200 gold medals and awards. The last award GWS received was an International Certificate from ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) food products, certificates that is one of the main criteria for evaluation of the quality of the production. GWS is one of the main leaders of Georgian wine making sector and it is the main definer of wine producing trends in the country.
Q: You have mentioned that the GWS is one of the leaders so could you be more specific about details regarding the company like its turn over and etc?
A: Company production is more then four million liter per year and the company is growing 15% a year. GWS provides around thirty percent of total wine of Georgian production in Russian market.
Q:There is quite strong competition among the wine makers in Georgia so what are the advantages of your company?
A: GWS was the first wine company who created new wine brands after the serious decline in the wine sector due to the collapse of the Soviet Union; GWS was the first company to put serious investments in a sector where there were serious problems, Georgian wine in Russia for example, which was the main market for it, cost 4-5 USD in 1995 and later, when now, due to the wine production regulation law in Georgia that is similar to France, Georgian wines like Khvanchkara, Mukusani. Nspareuli, Kimdzmarauli cost 25 USD. The company advantage is also its orientation on quality, consumers and marketing. Our marketing strategy is maintenance of authenticity of Georgian wine and keeping up with modern trends as well, as Georgia is a cradle of wines.
Q: Could you speak about your personal background?
A: I am MBA in Strategic Marketing of Stockholm Business School. If about my experience I am in marketing and commercial sphere in Georgia for more then three years. I started as a manager at the advertising agency, and then I became its director. Then I was a marketing director of the company that was a major distributor of famous brands in Georgia like Martini, Heineken ets and then I was hired at my present position at GWS.
