January 19, 2020 – On the 10th of January this year – a small but important anniversary was celebrated in Boston, MA. Croatian Premium Wines Imports celebrated one year.
A year ago, Mirena Bagur and Winfried Burke, both business professionals with experience in the high tech industry, global companies and startups, concluded that the timing was perfect for introducing Croatian wines to the US market on a much larger scale than it has been done to date. Enter a year of hard and smart work, including many wine tastings, participations at wine festivals, and assertive marketing and product placement, Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc., based in Boston, Massachusetts, has already made a significant impact on the US market. There were several market dynamics that indicated a good timing to start importing Croatian wines to the US: the wine lovers, be they wine professionals or consumers in the US are now ready to experience wines from regions with which they are not familiar.
Also, more often than before, Croatia tops many travel lists as a must-see place and more Americans have actually traveled to Croatia and had the opportunity to taste Croatian wines. Many of them simply loved the wines but could not easily find them in the USA. Last but not least, the quality of Croatian wine is consistently growing. The confluence of all these market factors, and particularly the winemaking renaissance that took place in Croatia over the last decade, has convinced us that it was perfect timing and opportunity for creating a successful business, said Mirena Bagur, Co-founder/VP Brand Management at Croatian Premium Wine Imports, Inc.
“Obviously, with my Croatian roots, for me, this is not all just about business: exporting Croatian wines to one of the largest global markets would clearly empower wineries and many people who work for them back home. My passion is beyond just business – it is about making an impact on people in my beloved homeland,” says Mirena, who was born and studied in Croatia but now lives in Massachusetts, USA where she is a prominent member of the Croatian community and has worked to promote Croatia and its culture over the years, including helping American groups visit and learn about Croatia. She is also an active member of the Board of the Croatian community in Boston – New England Friends of Croatia, www.friendsofcroatia.org, and participates in various efforts in the business circles, including the American Association of Croatian Professionals, www.croampro.org.
The company Croatian Premium Wines Imports is actively working on creating distribution channels not only in Massachusetts but also in other US States. In addition, the company opened up an online store with shipments to most of the US States, www.croatianpremiumwine.com/shop-online. In just a year, they managed to ship two containers of wine from Croatia to Boston, positioned Croatian wines in wine stores and restaurants in Massachusetts and there are currently 15 liquor stores and 8 restaurants that carry Croatian wines on a regular basis.
“We have been very happy with the responses we have gotten when we feature Croatian wines, said Howie Rubin, one of key influencers in the Boston wine scene, and a general manager of the 50-year old boutique wine store on Newbury Street, Bauer Wines. They perform well, there is a genuine interest on the part of our customers, and thus we have expanded the section.”
Croatian Premium Wines Imports also hosted a group of wine experts and writers from different countries to Croatia, collaborated on a first project with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Croatian Embassy for the Martinje tasting event in Washington DC. Many important connections with leading Croatian winemakers in different wine regions have been established in order to prepare to introduce their wines in the US in 2020. Fast pivoting in a startup is not new for Win Burke, an MIT computer scientist for whom CPWI is his eighth start-up company. In previous businesses, he positioned companies for successful exits, including taking one company public, and selling the last one to Google.
“At the time we incorporated, our business strategy was to focus on Massachusetts restaurants and specialty wine stores, and we were planning to be cautious in the introduction, as Croatian wines were not well known here,” said Win Burke, CEO/Co-founder of CPWI.
“We thought that importing a small container of wine would give us the opportunity to explore and expand gradually. However, it turned out Massachusetts loves Croatian wines – the market acceptance has been so great that we decided to speed up the growth process. So, we ordered the second container, developed an online channel and also started looking for distributors in other states – all within the first year – happily,” concludes Burke.
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