Interview with Craig Wolf, WSWA
I attended the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) convention in Las Vegas a few weeks ago where I interviewed Craig Wolf, President and CEO of the WSWA.
I had meant to write up the interview on Snooth, but I've been unable to bring myself to do it. Snooth's role is not that of a political entity - Snooth is an information service which aggregates publicly available information about wine. Snooth does not have a channel preference - we support direct to consumer, as well as retail 3 tier purchases. We just help educate people about what's in the bottle.
On one hand, if you read Tom Wark's Fermentation blog you'd expect Craig to be the devil incarnate. On the other, Craig is a well educated, put together guy. He didn't look like the devil when I met him.
There's no doubt that if the WSWA had their way, wineries would not be able to ship wine to consumers direct. If this occurred then many wineries would go out of business, as Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is the most profitable channel, and for many of the smaller wineries that struggle to get good representation at the retail level, represents their lifeblood. Consumers would clearly have less choice if this occurred - the choice of buying from the winery would be removed and the choice of buying wine from these wineries forced into bankruptcy would be removed. I believe in freedom of commerce, and so believe that removing these choices is a bad thing.
When Craig and I actually sat down, here's what we spoke about:
- WSWA is perceived as representing large spirits companies only. They have ~350 members and have begun to invite press to their events to raise their profile.
- There's a need for clearer laws. There are new business models being created in the space (online commerce, marketing agents etc) and many operate in gray areas.
- The state liquor boards have no money and often cannot afford to enforce or define existing laws which hampers new legitimate business growth.
- WSWA would like to create an online trading platform where wineries can list products and wholesalers can browse and buy.
- Apparently the British have a drinking problem because of the vertically integrated supply chain (I was a little shocked at this one). I mentioned Quebec, which has a totally regulated supply chain, as having similarly high alcohol consumption. [I'm not sure why my point was not valid].
Telling me that my countrymen are a bunch of drunks was the dumbest statement, saying that we really need clear laws for all parties concerned was the smartest. As an entrepreneur, all we want to do is build businesses. When the laws are not even clear, its hard to begin.