June 06: Sonal Holland MW, India’s first and only Master of Wine has tied up with the London-based Wine Intelligence. The partnership will closely examine the expanding consumer landscape, backed by statistical, quantitative and in-depth qualitative research and envisions a more comprehensive analysis of the Indian wine consumer in 2018, writes Subhash Arora
‘I made a promise during my MW felicitation speech at the delWine Excellence Awards 2016 at Hotel Pullman in September 2016 that I would ensure India remaining 'top of mind' in wine conversations around the world. I had repeated the same promise during the first-ever Presentation as Founder-Director of India Wine Insider at Hotel Four Seasons Mumbai, in front of trade professionals and journalists like you,’ says Sonal.
As one of the emerging wine markets in the 21st century, a thorough understanding of Indian consumer behaviour attitudes and their relationship with wines is both timely and relevant. So far, there has been excellent coverage of sales trends from data gathering organisations such as the IWSR, USDA, GAIN reports and Indian Trade Associations like ASSOCHAM. However, all these report are based largely on information gathered from the wine trade.
Wine Intelligence has not conducted any consumer research in India so far. Wine Intelligence's long-standing reputation of providing consumer insights to the global wine industry across 33 key wine market through its omnibus surveys, combined with Sonal Holland MW's knowledge of the Indian market, should create an India Report that is a definitive picture of how wine works in this complex , potentially large market.
Through this partnership, Sonal hopes to take forward India's first-ever comprehensive survey of the urban Indian wine consumer as part her MW research paper. ‘As the wine industry gains momentum in India and wine is sold to a wider spectrum of consumers, there is a need to improve our understanding of the final consumer. We hope to provide that reliable information,’ she says.
The survey she had organised covered 878 urban wine consumers across five major consumption cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Goa. The research report titled 'India Wine Insider' was launched at Four Seasons in Mumbai on March 14 , followed by panel discussion in which Kapil Grover, Founder & Chairman of Grover Zampa Vineyards; Vishal Kadakia Founder & Director of Wine Park and Jasjit Singh Assi (JJ), Hotel Manager of Four Seasons had also participated. The report revealed first-hand consumer outlook on the awareness, attitudes and usage of wine and was well-received by the wine industry and was reported in delWine.
Lulie Halstead is co-founder and CEO of Wine Intelligence and regarded as a leading thinker in the world of wine business strategy. Prior to co-founding Wine Intelligence, she developed expertise in the wine industry, with hands-on roles in importing, marketing & retailing. Her passion for wine started during summer holidays as a child, when she was frequently taken to the vineyards of France. She is an established marketing academic, focusing on wine consumer behaviour and continues to teach and supervise on Masters programmes around the world. She focuses on exploring what makes consumers behave in the way they do. She specialises in qualitative research practices and trend research, constantly developing new ways to uncover the processes of the subconscious mind. To realise this vision of Sonal, the joint partnership between Sonal Holland MW with Wine Intelligence should work well.
For an earlier related Article, please visit:
Sonal Holland MW presents India’s First Wine Consumer Survey
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