Rare Direct to Consumer (DTC) Legacy Wine Importer in a growing niche

Filament Business Advisors is seeking a person on a mission in the world of wine. This is a small, woman-owned, California-based, remotely operated wine importer/wholesaler and retailer that allows the owner to import wine from around the world and sell direct-to-consumer, bypassing distributors and their markups. This is made possible by a rare but transferable alcoholic beverage license combination (9-17-20).
The current owner and founder currently only sells online through a fully functional e-commerce website and a 3rd party fulfillment warehouse to consumers in other states. They could also import and sell directly to retailers in California, including those they might own, as well as to restaurants they do not. Aside from skipping the middleman markups with DTC, in every other state this license would allow the holder to pass wine through local distributors, with limited fixed costs.
This company specializes in organic wines, a sector projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% over the next few years despite a glut in conventional wines. In the US, the world’s largest wine market, 59% of wine consumers are women, who are three times more likely than men to prefer wine to beer or spirits. These women tend to be mature, wealthy and well educated. This same demographic is the most likely to buy organic food and non-alcoholic beverages. Women have proven far more likely to buy wine made by women when it is made explicit, but that rarely happens. The wine distribution industry is still a boys club. A savvy buyer who’d like to target this relatively underserved market, while supporting underrepresented winemakers, health and the environment, could cash in on the current zeitgeist and do quite well by making it explicit, skipping the boys club, and connecting the women who make wine directly with those who drink it, all while taking the full margin. The owner’s rolodex here is a goldmine.
California, which is responsible for 85% of US wine production, grows only 2.4% of its acreage organically, compared to France, Spain and Italy, who grow 75% of the world’s organic wine, so anyone seeking to focus on organics would have to be an importer. US consumption is still only 1% organic, but rising, with plenty of room to continue. The economics of the business give the greatest benefit to value wines (those at ex-cellar prices of under $5/bottle), that usually wind up on the shelf or the doorstep at under $20 due to middleman markups in the traditional three tier model.
A buyer could contract with wineries to develop a private label while at the same time creating a product nobody else can get at any price. A buyer with ample retail shelf space in California could sell directly to consumers at a lower price or double the margin. Like the current owner, one could also sell DTC nationwide. The right buyer would be able to fill shipping containers at wineries in France, Italy, Spain, and every other country that makes wine, especially in volume, and bring the wine into CA, from where they could sell at full price nationwide.

A buyer could also add value by building on the existing path-paving, decades-old brand, finding any of the many unrepresented wines around the world, and marketing to the largest group of wine drinkers in a thirsty country. This business needs a passionate, social media-focused marketing guru. A savvy buyer could scratch a wine industry itch from a remote office, own a growing niche with an infinitely scalable model, and turn a healthy profit by taking the full margin, flipping the script and aiming at women, wellness and the earth. The seller is looking to retire but is willing to stay on in an advisory capacity for years.