Exporting Oregon Wines to SE Asia

With the increasing popularity of Oregon wines, especially its Pinot Noir, state wineries are looking abroad to new markets to expand their reach and increase sales. One of those new emerging markets is Southeast Asia, which consists of Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. For the purpose of this paper I have left out Laos, Burma, and Cambodia because of import restrictions and poor demand for imported wines. In 2010, Oregon saw an increase in the number of wine cases exported to 59,537 from 35,664 in 2009. As the fourth largest wine producing state, Oregon is still far behind California, the largest US exporter of wines at 90%. Still the emergence of New World wines, like those in Oregon, continues to increase around the world, and SE Asia is a new and expanding market that has taken a liking to these wines, especially among the affluent. Based on research, this paper will break down by country the perceptions, sociocultural acceptance, competition, taxation and restrictions, distribution channels, and marketing strategies that could be used to introduce Oregon wines.

Vietnam In Vietnam, wine is beginning to make inroads with the local peoples in a country where beer and spirits have been the mainstay since the Vietnam War. It saw an increase in US wine imports of 234% between 2010 and 2011 accounting for over $18 million in sales. Most of the wine consumed in the country is by foreigners or expatriates, but this is changing with an increase in economic activity and per capita income. Most alcoholic beverages are widely available and an acceptable part of the culture. As with other countries, red wine is perceived as the only ‘real’ wine, and people have taken note of its positive health effects.

There are many hurdles to overcome in trying to export wines to Vietnam, the