| The company A medium-sized South Australian winery, founded in 1850, classified by the National Trust and listed on the State and National Heritage Registers, winner of a number of prestigious international trade awards had decided to further develop its exports to France. The company has established existing export markets which include the USA, UK, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Cyprus and Canada. Recently the company started to export wine to Singapore, Amsterdam and Japan. The products and services The winery offers a range of 11 red, white, rosé and Port wine references. The wine offer includes Malbec, Shiraz, Verdelho and Cabernet and all the fruits come from the family vineyards located in the same area. The objectives
To sell “ice to the Eskimos” or is it “coals to Newcastle”. IBT services IBT Partners conducted an in-depth market assessment which took some three months to complete. This covered the market for New World wines in France, focusing on those “success stories” from Australia and New Zealand. Further detailed information was provided concerning the routes to market, the “references” and the pricing. The presentation of the report was conducted via internet communications and then a follow up meeting in Paris. IBT Partners then had to get its client into the French market - meaning cases and pallets worth of orders. 35 of the principal importer/distributors were identified, profiled and contacted. IBT Partners prepared all the communications documentation that was necessary to present the vineyard and its prestigious wines. A telephone questionnaire was conducted covering 8 main information subjects as well as determining the level of interest in importing and distributing a new range of quality Australian wines. IBT Partners organized presentation meetings, wine tasting events and despatched samples across France. Interest was clearly “high” as the market study had revealed there was recognition of the quality and growing demand for New World wines. Local distribution was found for small medium volume orders. Large volume was to be handled directly from South Australia. The references are now progressing in France. | 
