The effects of the global economic crisis are being felt by many Spanish companies, including the company where I am interning, Bodegas Pérez Hidalgo. At the beginning of the semester, things were moving along, albeit slowly, with respect to exporting wine to the United States. This was mainly due to the complicated regulations and paperwork that foreign companies often face when exporting alcoholic beverages. More recently, however, it seems that business operations have come to a standstill due to the economic crisis. According to the importer in the US who I have been in contact with, the problem is that there is an excess of wine sitting in distributers´ warehouses and consequently, they are reluctant to buy more foreign wine. Thus, Bodegas Pérez Hidalgo will need to wait until the US economy starts to recover and consumers begin to buy more wine. Economists´ forecasts for when this will happen are vague, however, and this has put the company in an uncertain position.
This does not indicate that the wine industry in the United States has collapsed— it has survived past recessions. It does indicate at the very least, however, that demand for Spanish wine (which is usually priced higher than domestic wine, due largely to expenses associated with exporting), has decreased. While the company has had success selling wine within Spain, I am uncertain how sales have been affected by the more potent economic crisis here. At any rate, as long as the company has adequate resources to make it through the crisis, I am sure that it will have the chance to prosper again in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment