Chris Pfeiffer's small Victorian winery competes for big export contracts - thanks to an Austrade-supported network of small wineries.
| Entrepreneur |
Chris Pfeiffer, Partner |
| Company |
Pfeiffer Wines |
| Business type |
Makers, marketers and distributors of fine wines |
| Head office |
Wahgunyah, Victoria |
| Contact details |
+61 3 6033 2805 |
Key Learning Points |
|
Networks and branding
Industry networks can help with the successful export of branded products.
Network membership
Strong networks have members who are compatible and who complement each other’s goods or services.
Export market development
Developing export markets requires personal effort and support.
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The Pfeiffer Wines Story
As one of Australia’s thousand-odd small wineries, Pfeiffer Wines would not be expected to play much of a part in the country’s ever-expanding wine export boom. About 800 of those small wineries produce less than 5,000 cases of wine for sale each year. If a country such as Malaysia wants 5,000 cases of just one line, meeting demand can be a problem. As a result, many of the small wineries are not interested in export.
Not so Chris Pfeiffer. He exports 30% of his product to overseas to countries including the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Canada. To meet the volume demands of export markets, Pfeiffer helped form a group of Victorian wineries of similar size to his own into an industry network. The network has been supported by Austrade through its export market development grants program. Pfeiffer says: “Being a small enterprise, if you are going for the export market development grants, their threshold can be quite formidable for you. Being in the network means we can access the grants as a network and share that threshold amongst ourselves on a pro rata basis.”
The network expects the grants to return between 30-35% of their total investment into the export market over a five year period. Pfeiffer says his group is regarded by Austrade as one of the most successful networks it has had. He says: “Probably because we were careful about who came into the group. We chose carefully, made sure we were compatible and complementary to each other. We have an independent chairperson [to] whom we pay a small retainer. When we expanded the group, we all had the opportunity to veto anyone who wanted to come in. If you can remove the competitive element from it, then your network is going to be successful and when you’re talking about branded product - as we are - that’s important”.
Pfeiffer warns that the distance separating Australian exporters and most of their markets means that they must be prepared for problems and have a strategy in place to deal with them. The cost of freight and travel both in time and money can be potentially crippling to a small enterprise. He says: “The longer I have been in export, the more I realise that most markets are the same. If you want to be successful, you have to wear out leather; you’ve got to get over there and support them and bear that cost.”
Despite strong competition from France and Chile, Pfeiffer believes there is still a good chance for Australian wine export success in Japan. His network would like to concentrate on Japan in the near future. “And if you’re thinking about China,” he says, “get used to eating fish eyes - the most treasured part of the fish. I’ve eaten them - with a French chablis.