The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has taken a toll on all industries. As a wine & spirits importer, exporter, and distributor, Royal Wine Corp. has also been affected by the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders issued by most US states and countries over the past 4 months. We reached out to Royal Wine executives to better understand how has the company been affected by the effects of the pandemic.
Royal Wine News (RWN): “Jay Buchsbaum, you are the EVP of Marketing and Director of Wine Education. You also oversee exports to South America, how has COVID-19 affected this side of the business?”
Jay Buchsbaum: “Throughout Latin America currencies are in steep decline against the US Dollar. As a result, imported wines on those markets are much more costly and a decline in consumer spending on these has taken an even greater toll on sales. Add to that there is virtually no safety net in most countries, such as unemployment support, (very limited) additional business supports and extra and additional payments to families, etc. We are very fortunate to live in this country. I see the suffering both in health terms and economically throughout Latin America, and for the first time in my lifetime it is effecting the Jewish communities in a very serious way.”
RWN: Charles Lynch is the company’s VP of Spirits Business Development. “Charles, how has the pandemic affected the spirits division?”
Charles Lynch: “The closure of on-premise businesses has significantly impacted the market. As well, launching and growing new brands has proved more difficult, customers aren’t shopping yet for something new to try, preferring to stay with brands they know. On the production side, some distilleries have even refocused some of their resources towards the sanitizer business.”
We also spoke to Doug Simon, VP of National Sales.
RWN: “Doug, how have the sales been impacted over the past 4 months since the outbreak?”
Doug Simon: “According to Nielsen Beverage Alcohol Update, our flagship brand Bartenura has seen sales spike to +25% YTD as well as our Spirits portfolio where sales have increased +19%. As the Covid-19 pandemic closed America late March, our April-Passover business was, however, softer based on fewer gatherings and events.”