Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West Monthly Newsletter
March 2021
Interview with Jack Cohen-Martin, CEO of GrapeIn
1. Can you briefly introduce GrapeIn and what distinguishes it from other B2B platforms?
GrapeIn empowers brands to access the U.S. market, and to generate and manage sales.
First, the platform is a new path to market that Matches suppliers with service importers and clearing distributors.
Once on the market, the platform assists with generating sales opportunities by leveraging online digital marketing, joining trade events and bolstering market sales representation.
GrapeIn’s B2B e-commerce site becomes a virtual storefront for the producer, accepting order requests 24/7 while allowing transparency into sales and inventory.
Compared to other B2B platforms, GrapeIn is a one stop shop for out of country suppliers and new brands - a turnkey solution for distribution, sales and marketing.
2. During the pandemic, we have seen a rise in online commerce and B2B platforms, what is, in your opinion, the future of GrapeIn, once operations resume in-person?
We have been experiencing quadruple growth in activity on our platform, with over 4,000 active users spending over 5min per session on average on the site.
The pandemic only accelerated the digital transformation that was nascent in the wine industry. While in-person sales will always be important the digital commercial experience is here to stay and grow. This is the future of alcoholic beverage sales. GrapeIn is not only a buying and selling platform it is a tool to better inform buyers and suppliers while creating the most robust industry sales tool to date.
As more and more restaurants and businesses open up, we expect to see more orders coming in directly from restaurants and other trade buyers who are looking to source quality craft products as directly as possible from the producer. Communication with the producer and the wine maker is perceived to be very valuable to knowledgeable trade buyers.
APPLY TO GRAPEIN'S KEY2MARKET PROGRAM TODAY
3. Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world. Do Italian wine and spirits companies make up a significant percentage of your clientele?
One of the experiences which contributed to the foundation of GrapeIn was a trip to Tuscany. Inspired by conversations with small producers of fine wine I got back to NY and applied my experience working with big global brands to help small brands with their online marketing needs. Since then and through our partnership with the Italian Chambers the majority of producers on the platform are still Italian.
David Weitzenhoffer, a key member of our team has extensive experience in selling and marketing Italian wine having traveled through every region in Italy, importing and selling Italian brands across the United States, and having lived in Piemonte for more than six months. Behind US wines, Italian wines are the second most consumed wines in the United States. We expect Italy’s participation on GrapeIn to be a very important part of our portfolio.
4. Have you seen a growth in demand for your services in the international market in the last year?
We see visitors coming to the platform from all over the world- from Europe to Asia and Australia.
During the pandemic, Importers who couldn’t travel used GrapeIn in order to discover and source new products, connecting directly with the producers forming relationships and creating new business opportunities.
On a few occasions, importers from China found out about Italian producers who were active on the platform as part of the Chambers of Commerce virtual event and ended up importing products to Shanghai.
APPLY TO GRAPEIN'S KEY2MARKET PROGRAM TODAY
Contact at info@grapein.com
For more information please visit grapein.com