OREANDA-NEWS. July 21, 2008. An important event for Moldovan wine industry in 2007 was the creation of the association, Moldovan Wine Guild, uniting seven leading wineries with the purpose of promoting the image of Moldavian wine. Almost a year has passed, and the results are quite significant.

A meeting of the Moldovan Wine Guild took place, where the heads of the members’ wineries discussed results of the executive management’s activities and made plans for the future.

They analyzed the reached results on their participation in joint projects on the promotion of high quality Moldovan wines, such as participation in international and specialized exhibitions, the organization of themed tasting, seminars and master-classes, other activities promoting and forming an image of Moldovan wine and the establishment of contacts with representatives of press and trade.

From the moment of registration, the Guild shows an openness and readiness for interaction with representatives of mass media. It contributes to a positive image building of the member companies, allowing them to achieve a high loyalty to their production. Thus, participants of Guild have an opportunity to react to changes in the market, needs of the partners and end consumers, and as result, achieve significant successes and feel more confident in the context of stiff competition in the wine market.

Speaking about association’s mission, it is necessary to emphasize that its purpose — to become a strong marketing organization which raises the competitiveness of members of Guild, creating image of a Moldavian wine and raising the profile of the country in the international market—promotes the creation of a strong platform for the development of business. Thus, the association aspires to effectively respond to the changing expectations of all parties interested in its activity, including: financial shareholders and the personnel of the companies, their partners, consumers, and also the state and a society as a whole.

In a short period of time, MWG has already achieved significant results: wine magazines began to write about us; and in the first half of this year the physical volume of wine exports of MWG members on the European markets in comparison with the previous period considerably grew (by approximately 20%). Preliminary data for the first half of 2008 show that more than a third of Moldovan wine exports (39%) is by MWG members.

Serious work on skills training of enterprise personnel has been done to increase the competitiveness of Guild members. Specialized technical trainings, including presentations on target markets and wine promotion in western markets have also been completed with support of СЕЕD/USAID project.

Joint participation in the Prodexpo-2008 exhibition, as well as carrying out a master-class with a tasting of Moldovan wines, were steps forward to the restoration of their image in the Russian market. Experts agree that the creation of the Moldovan Wine Guild will play a positive role in promoting a new image of Moldova, not only in Russian, but also in European export markets, as the Guild unites companies with a common focus on quality and a modern approach to marketing.

The positive experience of Moldovan wineries can serve as a good example for the whole sector. An association more effectively enables the promotion of Moldovan wines, minimizes the expenses of participation in exhibitions, efficiently uses financial assets from donor and other organizations which are designed to support and develop of the wine industry, allows members to consecutively undertake actions on the expansion of consumer markets and, finally, promotes the formation of a positive image of Moldovan wine.

The members are happy with the work of Guild, noting the importance of further participation in joint activities. It is necessary to establish the country as a serious producer of wine, most importantly on western markets. In the world market there is a growth of wineries investing in national promotion; it is becoming more and more difficult to compete alone. Costs of advertising are significant for wineries, and do not necessarily pay off. Therefore, it is very important to organize national campaigns involving more enterprises and organizations.

The basis for the successful development of Moldovan winemaking, in the opinion of top managers of our Guild members, is the consolidation of forces and means in the development of export potentials of wineries and the increase of the image of the country as an excellent producer of wines. The members believe that they can continue to build on their joint achievements through further collaboration and that the Guild has done a significant amount of positive work in the short period of time it has existed.

Note: The Moldovan Wine Guild was registered in August 2007, with the following wineries as members: "Aсorex Wine Holding" SA, "Vinaria Bostavan" SRL, "Chateau Vartely" SRL, "Lion-Gri" SRL, "DK-Intertrade" SRL (Dionis Club), "Dionysos-Mereni" SA, "Vinaria Purcari" SRL.