Media Release – High volume winemakers missing boat on strong demand for Australian wine in China

The Australia China Development Company (TACDC.com.au) has urged Australian winemakers to seize the opportunities to meet high demand in China.

“We do not currently have enough clients to match demand from high volume Chinese wine buyers,” TACDC Chairman The Hon. Chris Schacht says.Schacht says that local winemakers often give up after attempting to enter the Chinese market and hitting a wall of “pleasant silence”.”They attend meetings and banquets and though they receive positive communications, they find the whole exercise goes cold.”

“Doing business in China is elusive unless you have the right contacts and ‘guanxi’, or ‘networks of influence’”.

The Australia China Development Company operates successfully in many sectors, including wine, mining, sports / events management, arts, technology and agriculture and maintains a prestigious network of Chinese corporate and government contacts.

TACDC has been operating in China for a decade and has built up considerable “guanxi” – relationships that have resulted in millions of litres sold for wine clients. One such success story is Portavin Integrated Wine Services.

Portavins Managing Director Tony Royal says, “I was first introduced to TACDC General Manger Conan Fahey in 2007. We required expert assistance in developing business opportunities in mainland China.

“Results speak ­ in less than 3 years from a zero base we are now exporting 40 x 20 foot containers of packaged Australian wine per month into the Chinese market.

“Conan¹s unique ability to explain and educate Australians on Chinese culture and business and the same when dealing with the Chinese on Australian culture and business fast tracked our opportunities and consolidated relationships. He comes with our highest recommendation.”

“This is an opportunity only for the right wine exporters who are ready to think seriously about selling large quantities of wine,” Fahey says. “If your company is ready to hit the ground running you will be in an excellent position to form long-term profitable relationships with buyers.”

Interested winemakers should contact Karyn Lanthois – karyn@tacdc.com.au – for further information.

Karyn Lanthois is TACDC’s Client Relations & Strategy Manager and has 10 years of business and client management experience.

The TACDC is represented by its Chairman, Hon. Chris Schacht and General Manager Conan Fahey.The Hon. Chris Schacht has visited China extensively as a Senior Labor Party official, Senator and as a Federal Government Minister.He has also visited as the President of the Australian Volleyball Federation, leader of Trade Delegations and as a guest of the Communist Party of China.

His regular visits have enabled him to build cohesive networks and contacts with pivotal people in business and government. He has a thorough appreciation and understanding of how diplomatic and government trade arrangements operate between Australia and China.

Conan Fahey has resided in China increasingly over the past decade and has been referred to by In Business Magazine as “an appropriate point man in China, familiar with the local ways of life and business, he is part of the critical interface between very different cultures.” He is Vice President of ACCCI (Australian Asian Chamber of Commerce& Industry) and recently won the 2010 Council for International Trade and Commerce (SA) CITCSA Awards Outstanding Long-Term Contribution award.

In the immediate future Conan is a delegate on the China Mining 2010 Mission (Beijing, Tianjin, Xiamen) and will then be appointed as special consultant to China Chamber of International Commerce Qingdao Chamber / Qingdao CCPIT (China Council for the Promotion of International Trade) at the fourth session of members congress to be held on Nov. 26, 2010 in Qingdao. The new appointment aptly illustrates the deep rooted connections TACDC has fostered with Government and Industry in China.