On Tuesday of this week, nearly 200 people attended the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce South Central webinar, “Open for Business: The Italian Food and Wine Supply Chain.” It was the first of series of live events presented by the IACC entitled “Challenges and Opportunities in the Post-Pandemic Era.”

For Italian food and wine producers who are either currently working in the U.S. or looking to break into the market here, I highly recommend that you check out what veteran importer Cecilia Ercolino (above) has to say.

“People are looking for new,” she noted, drawing from her own experience as the owner of an “essential” business.

Because of disruptions in the supply chain, she explained, consumers are willing to abandon their loyalty to one particular brand or another. As a result, there is immense opportunity for Italian food producers to break into the market.

She also spoke at length about how companies that are willing to do “whatever it takes” are the ones that are making gains in the market. It’s a new era in sales and marketing for Italian food and wine, she said. Wine and food producers need to look to their importers and distributors for guidance on what the support they need to move their products. And they need to listen.

The other speakers also offer compelling insights into creative and innovative ways to reach buyers and consumers in the COVID-19 era.

A lot of viewers will be surprised at how many opportunities the crisis has created for open-minded food and wine producers.

I highly recommend it to you and I was proud to be one of the moderators. As soon as we have the details for the next event, I’ll share them here. Thanks for watching. Please feel free to share. There is some solid info in there.