02/20/2020

Part Editorial, Part Industry Review…

Written by Stephanie Cuadra, founder of Terrestoria Wine Imports in Salt Lake City, The Utah Wine Market Report uncovers the primary reasons the Beehive State is fast becoming a haven for wine lovers.

While inquiries into consumption typically capture national and global trends, consideration of Utah’s idiosyncratic wine market requires a contextualized frame of reference. Historically and culturally unique, Utah operates under the Control Model and plays by its own rules in business.

Through targeted research and detailed analysis, all five sections of this report offer a glimpse into the circumstances that have helped wine culture take root in Utah, while offering applicable insights about the road ahead for the state’s vibrant food and drinks industry.

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Read excerpts from each section or skip to the report download.

SECTION I

WHERE THERE IS PROGRESS THERE IS WINE | The economy

SECTION II

UP, UP & AWAY | Demographics

SECTION III

FUELING INDUSTRY WITH FOOD & DRINKS | Strategic thinking

SECTION IV

A CULTURE OF MODERATION | Social responsibility

SECTION V

CONTROL STATE OF MIND | Flouting the tiers

Excerpt I

There is no disputing the evident challenges that lie ahead for the U.S. wine supply chain. Instead, this report looks to Utah as a region of unheeded potential. The state’s talented workforce, proclivity for innovation and pro-market mindset are engines of boundless productivity across numerous industries—from aerospace and renewable energy to outdoor products and tech—forming a prosperous ecosystem where an appreciation for wine is only natural.

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Excerpt II

While Utah’s aging population, slowing birthrates and climbing religious disaffiliation all seem to parallel national tendencies, the dramatic population growth spurred by the state’s attractive labor market is unexplored territory where traditional values coalesce more than ever with untethered free-market practices.

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Excerpt III

Nowhere is Utah’s metamorphic rise more evident than at local eating and drinking establishments which form a $5.5 billion sector in their own right (6) while bringing immeasurable added value to every industry at work in the state economy. As the consumer-facing segment of tourism, business travel and day-to-day networking, restaurants and bars have become an integral resource for statewide enterprise.

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Excerpt IV

The culture of respect inherent to wine is a shared tradition that transcends time and deserves a place in modern society. Educating imbibing consumers about the prodigious history, geography and biology of wine is the first step in moderation as greater understanding is acquired about what in fact distinguishes this agricultural product from other types of alcoholic drinks.

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Excerpt V

At first glance, the presence of a government monopoly in Utah’s otherwise staunchly free-market economy may come across as a glaring paradox. Predictably, total acceptance of state intervention in alcohol sales is rare among consumers living in a control system environment. But all too often what is lost on many are the inner workings of the broader three-tier-system, the federally mandated backbone of all alcohol-related business in the United States which has given rise to an increasingly consolidated middle tier of private wholesalers who dominate most beverage alcohol markets nationwide. Time and again, major mergers have reconfigured the map of alcohol distribution into expansive multi-state territories where only those giant market alliances and their biggest commercial brands can compete.

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Text-only version of The Utah Wine Market Report available at Medium.com.