Being a Japanese, I was intrigued to hear that Japanese were one of the biggest customers. Come to think of it, I had heard of icewine in Japan, though frankly, it is not one of the most popular souvenir from Canada (the maple cookies and bear honey are). To learn a little further, I searched and found an article, "Niagara Icewine tourism: Japanese souvenir purchases at Inniskillin Winery" by David J. Telfer and Atsuko Hashimoto (2000).
According to the article, Japanese purchased 80-90% of the 60,000 Icewines produced, which would sell out back in the late 90's. Icewine (and wine) retailers needed to be strategic around their customers and the Japanese tourists visiting Canada were targeted for the following reasons. First, there is a culture of "bringing back a high quality souvenir" in Japan. The quality of the souvenir proved the affluence of the gift giver, and authenticity was also valued. Thus, the expensive and authentic Icewine was suitable. Moreover, bringing back a decent souvenir is a huge culture in the Japanese workplace. Taking days off work to travel was deemed inefficient and selfish. Though I personally feel it changing, the fact of not taking any paid leaves has been beautified. Under such circumstances, it has been an etiquette to at least bring home some gifts. I feel this persists in the Japanese workplace today; I cannot come back to work without a souvenir.
Second, Icewine sellers were extremely strategic in a way that they partnered with Japanese tour operator. Usually, wine sellers try to make individual customers purchase again or come back. In the case of Japanese tourists, hardly any of them went back, however, Icewine sellers worked with the same "tour company" (and not "individuals") ; tourists through this one company accounted for 90% of the Icewine purchase, including the subsequent upside of mail orders from Japanese repeaters.
While the data may be a little outdated, I was able to better understand the background and imagine how targeting Japanese tourists was a good strategy.
Thanks Yuko! This is really interesting. I've definitely observed a growing popularity of ice wine within the Chinese community as well.
ReplyDeleteTwo considerations I'd throw out is the taste of the wine and the way of drinking it that also suit certain international demographics, especially from Asia. The sweeter and more concentrated taste is what I've anecdotally heard a lot of customers referencing. When you think about other popular asian liquors like sake or soju, the sweetness is a factor that is often present.
The second is the style of drinking. Because of the concentration and higher alcohol content, ice wine is more of a slow sip drink in smaller volumes, which also fits the drinking style/preferences of these consumers.
These are totally hypothetical and anecdotal thoughts, but was very intrigued by your post!