Wines of Chile to open generic office in US

Lessons learned in the UK will be applied to growing the US market

RICARDO LETELIER, managing director of the global office for Wines of Chile, has confirmed that the next generic office will open in the US within the year.

Although it has not been decided where Bthe offices will be based, Letelier told the drinks business that his office has already embarked upon extensive research into the needs and aspirations of the American consumer, which should be completed by the end of 2003.

Letelier says, "The US is our next target and we are in the process of analysing the market at the moment in an attempt to really understand what buttons we need to press in order for Chilean wines to be a success there."

He continued, "Our experiences in the UK have given us a good idea about how to approach the market. Our next step will be to establish how we can finance the project and build a working structure that will enable us to make the most of our programme."

Given that the US represents 40% of Chile’s total exports this seems the logical next step for the Chilean generic effortnes