Read ALL your posts. And all you originally wanted was to make a few bottles of wine to save some $$$!! hehe. Having owned several businesses (some successful and others not so), I can sympathise and have empathy for what you are going through. Lots of learning was done and all those LONG hours are starting to pay off. You are now in a grocery chain. That could ramp up even more. Keep on keeping on. You can do it!time for our annual update. Into our 10th year of operation, we have had to negotiate some challenges this past year.....
Obviously with the government caused inflation, our expenses took a hit, but we were able to offset this by cutting back on labor by doing less, but more profitable, farmer's markets. We decided to work smarter, not harder and were able to choose our top 3 revenue producing farmer's markets to do this year. Instead of working longer hours for low attendance markets, we worked a market a day on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This worked out well for our "work/life" balance.
The Super market food stores (of which we had been up to 9 stores), decided to add an additional 3 stores and expand our reach. The challenge here was that these extra stores were not factored into the production schedule. Each day, after still working my full time job, we would work until midnight to meet production demands and keep our distribution outlets happy. So far, so good. We are hearing rumblings of an additional 3 more stores in 2024, so we are ramping up our inventory now in anticipation. Although the store takes their cut, having my wife drive to the store, unload the cases and drive away with payment. No having to work the market, check IDs or set up our booth. Quick and Easy.
Bottle prices, sugar and supplies have all increased about 30% across the board. Juice prices held to last year's prices, but the suppliers added a barrel filling fee instead of raising prices. Gasoline prices surged, so when we went on juice runs, we maximized what the truck would carry to make the trip worth our while. We were able to find a sugar source to save us about 25% per bag, but are still paying more than 2023. We have been absorbing these prices and making up the difference in the volume of sales, We have been thanked many times by our customers, but may have to correct some prices moving forward. But we can only raise prices so much as we get into the price range of some lower priced medium quality California wines. People will usually choose Cali over PA wines given the choice, but this is where our sweet wines win out. Cali doesn't make sweet wines and this is what sells for us.
Sales increased another 10% YOY, slowing due to production issues and just not having the time to get more bottled. Again, we are learning first hand about economies of scale, where we can only produce and store our product in the limited space we have. Though we have looked at expanding our production area, landlords are VERY proud of their spaces for lease. We still have the equipment of the winery which closed and we had purchased, still in storage as we don't have the space to expand, We continue to keep our overhead low and focus on quality and consistancy for our wines. We have learned that in January, we need to be focusing on the fall wines, in the fall, we are focused on next spring's wines.
As 2024 begins, we are hopeful for continued success, look forward to releasing a new wine or 2 and continuing to remain relevant in the wine market. At 10 years old, the winery is still fun to do, but we are looking toward the horizon to begin to determine our exit. We have made the wines, established our brand, found our outlets for selling and built up goodwill with our customers. Time to begin to look for a younger team to take the reins Anyone want to step in and own a winery???
Let's see what the year holds.
Enter your email address to join: