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FAQsWhat is the raison d’être behind America Uncorked? We took a long, hard look at all the difficulties that wine exporters have in accessing the US market. We then sought to find solutions for those difficulties, and address all of them in one unique service. Why is America Uncorked, Inc. unique? America Uncorked, Inc. is equivalent to an amalgamation of agent, US sales office and a US-specific export manager. The important point is that America Uncorked, Inc hope to cover all three functions for you at a fraction of the costs that you would incur. Why can’t I just find a distributor? You can, but more often than not they’ll service one State and once you’re listed, we know your brand will be lost amongst the myriad of others. In the US, the key to success is to follow-up vociferously at all times, not only with the distributor, but also retailers, the press and at tasting functions! Remember too, the US is at least 50 markets, not just one! You find one distributor in one State, but that’s just the beginning! America Uncorked, Inc will not only find you a distributor in one State but in several (depending on your budget), and if you choose to adopt our marketing services, will conduct all the follow-up too. How will we, the producer, save costs with America Uncorked, LLC? We know that if you are lucky, a distributor will find you, that’s the cheapest option. They are likely to operate in one State, a few larger ones will cover five or more States. You may end up selling 500-2,000 cases. But we know the market is saturated, and attracting the attention of the distributor is a time consuming and very expensive task involving several trips to the US and travel in between States. Then of course if your brand is going to succeed in the US, it requires constant and sustained back-up, again an expensive exercise. America Uncorked, LLC are on the ground in the US. We already have live contacts with over 100 distributors in 30 States. We will do the travelling, the tastings, the meetings, and close the deals for you with the distributors in as many States feasible given pricing, quantities available, etc.. We will then do all the follow-up work on a continual basis.
Who owns title to the stock? Due to US Federal laws, upon importation of the wine into the USA, AWD is legally required to take title to the wine which has been invoiced to AWD by the producer. AWD’s contract stipulates that they are granted 180 days credit terms. However, in fact, once the wine is sold in the USA from AWD to the distributor (AWD does the invoicing), and the payment is received, generally within 60 days, AWD then pays the producer for the goods sold and paid for by the distributor.
Paying an up-front fee is risky when you don’t know if we can deliver, and there is no track record to show? First, Tempe and Tim have been in the industry a long time. We have a track record. We don’t intend to fail people, and we won’t raise unreasonable expectations. You need to consider the enormous cost of business for you to travel to the USA on a regular basis, to first of all gain the understanding of the complexities of the many markets, and to then secure bona fide distributors to carry out the task of selling your wines. A non-USA producer would have to anticipate a minimum of $ 8,000 per trip for travel to major markets such as New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco, with no guarantee of success in making distributor contacts, much less securing their agreement to move forward, or to finally placing an opening order. In the initial year of USA market development, a producer should expect to make three trips per year. Also consider the opportunity costs of you, or key personnel, being distracted from servicing your current customers and by the distractions of the complex USA markets that require on-going presence and energy to develop. We know who to call to sell your wine in key markets, and our contacts would take years and untold amounts of money for the individual wine producer to cultivate. Also, remember that the retainer rolls over to a straight commission once mutually agreed upon sales figures are met. At that point, start-up costs of market development are covered much more cost effectively and with economies of scale, and our compensation is then based on a direct commission on sales. If I’m paying you the fee to find me distributors, and you find me three in the first few months, why should I go on paying you indefinitely? If you are interested in our all important and valuable brand-building services, to assist with the sell through process, then don’t forget that the commission paid for this service includes the costs of us employing sales staff to directly manage your account. All this is expensive and requires a minimum 12 month period just to set it up and running. Our compensation rolls over to straight commission once mutually agreed sales figures are reached. At the moment we only have 1,000 cases for export. Can we tailor the fees to our particular situation? Yes, let us know your FOB/Ex-Cellar prices and how much you have to export and we can discussa contract tailored to your exact needs. Who are America Uncorked, LLC.’s clients? After extensive study of the US market, we have decided to concentrate on producers from South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Portugal and France, because we believe wines from those countries are likely to show the greatest consumer demand. Please check out our partner, AWD’s client list at www.drinksusa.com and our own website at www.americauncorked.com to find our latest new clients. If there are many producers from the same country, can we group shipments and interact in other cost-effective ways? Yes, America Uncorked, Inc. will do all we can to keep your costs to a minimum, including group shipments, promotions, tastings etc.
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