José Moro (Bodegas Emilio Moro): “Spanish wine has arrived late to the international market”

The origins give him away. Pure Ribera. José Moro was born in Pesquera de Duero (Valladolid) in 1959 and is the president of a centennial firm, founded by his grandfather Emilio in 1891. With a staff of one hundred employees that he maintained during the worst of the pandemic, Bodegas Emilio Moro invoiced the year passed 26 million euros and expects this 2021 to close it at 31 “due to increased activity.” “Three years ago, we invested in vineyards and facilities to make more wine and we were able to get it out this year with a good response from the market.” The firm is very internationalized. It has a presence in 70 countries and now plans to make the leap to the Asian market, where it hopes to be as successful as in the American one. José Moro moved there almost at the turn of the century to sell, from restaurant to restaurant and from state to state, his wines. Today the United States represents 5% of the company’s sales. Recently, the Spain-United States Chamber of Commerce in Florida awarded him the Ponce de León 2020 award for ‘Executive of the Year’. The fourth generation “is forming, knowing what the company is, but I believe that the family should be on the board of directors while there should be well-prepared executives in the management.”

How many times during these almost two years of pandemic have you been on the brink of despair?

I’ve never been desperate. I am a superpositive man who copes better in the face of difficulties than in the face of more positive currents. When I have seen difficulties I have stopped to think, I have opened a bottle of wine and I have found the strategy to move forward.

What has the covid crisis meant for Emilio Moro’s business?

Well, an apprenticeship. It has taught us that strategy must be different depending on the context in which we live. We had a market where the horeca channel [hoteles, restaurantes y cafeterías] it was 80% of our sales through the distributors of each province. With the pandemic and the closures, we had to keep selling and we had to change our strategy. I see that the consumer is there, that he has economic possibilities. There were two ways: either the wine reached the shopping centers or access them through ‘ecommerce’. I changed my strategy and tried to position the wines through the internet and shopping centers. We had to vary the marketing and communication policy. The result has been very positive. In 2020, sales grew 5% compared to 2019. Exports also fell but we supplied it with large supermarkets and specialized stores in Spain.

Are you starting to tremble at the one that looms after Christmas with the omicron fired?

Not at all. Absolutely. Regardless of the restrictions that the Government may impose, the fact of not being able to celebrate in restaurants will reduce consumption in those establishments, yes, but not in homes. At least in a product like wine.

The reactivation of the pandemic jeopardizes the magnitude of the economic recovery in 2022. What does your nose tell you about it?

The economic data, especially from the Bank of Spain and European organizations, are not very good, but I, both as a company and at a private level, have no fear. My goal is to expand the commercial network. I have yet to reach many parts of the world. That can help offset lower consumption here. I have no fear of a slowdown in the economy.

For a long time, Rioja and Ribera del Duero made the great Spanish wines and the other territories produced low-quality musts or broths. That has changed and now the competition is huge. How do you live it?

I have it absolutely clear. Right now, Spain is the country that has the best conditions to produce quality wine. Each one must use their strategy to place their product on the market. Now, there are two denominations with soul, with history, which are the Ribera del Duero and the Rioja. They are at a better starting point. It does not matter Jumilla, Penedès, Extremadura or Castilla-la Mancha. Good wines are made in all of them.

Restoration is the great ally of Spanish wine. Few places offer quality imported wines. What prevents greater penetration from abroad? The prices, the taste of the clientele, the dominant position of the Spanish sector …?

It is normal, among other things because the value for money of Spanish wine is the best in the world. A wine that costs 30 euros in a restaurant in Spain, in Milan or Paris, a wine of the same quality range, costs you a hundred euros. That is why imported wines do not have penetration. In France it is very difficult to enter Spanish wine. Producing countries often consume their own wines.

Is export still a deficit of the sector?

Well, I think we were late to the market. In the eighties there were only three dominations: Xerez, Rioja and Jumilla. Then the Ribera enters and the Spanish wine panorama changes. Right now there are more than 70 denominations. This extension must find a place in the market. In Spain there is the market that there is and, to open more sales, you have to go abroad, but that is complicated. The sector in Spain is very young and they must believe it to go abroad and for their wines to be recognizable. For that you have to make a mark, go door to door. Wine is a conservative product. It’s not about spending $ 20 million on ads. Wine is word of mouth, that the consumer feels it. That takes time. The Spanish product has arrived late to the international market. The other countries also want their piece of the cake and many have done it better than us, like Chile. You have to wake up, believe it and go out into the world with the bottle under your arm.

Has the pandemic changed the wine distribution channels due to the closure of the horeca channel?

It is a circumstantial question because the horeca channel is going to continue there. The consumer is now more demanding than two years ago, he wants everything immediately and this type of consumption must be covered. You want the product delivered to your home. In Asia, ecommerce is already 16% of total wine. It is necessary to promote the sale on the internet. You have to reach the consumer, make it easy for them and we will win customers.

To what extent is climate change already affecting the wine sector? It seems that any day these Lapps or Siberians will be able to plant vineyards.

I think too much is being talked about. It is true that there is a climate change, but you have to talk area by area. I do not believe that climate change is negatively affecting the Ribera del Duero. We are warmer now than when I was young. The harvest is now at the end of September and the grapes are fully ripe and we make wines that are much smoother and rounder. It does not affect the quality of the wines but rather makes wines more to the consumer’s taste.

The winery that you preside has also signed up for wine tourism. Should we diversify the business?

It is not a question of diversification, but rather that when customers want to visit you and you open the door to your winery, what you do is build loyalty.

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