Pricing Attributes of Wines from Emerging Suppliers on the British Columbia Market

We examine British Columbia (BC) wine consumers’ valuation of wine imported from emerging suppliers (Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia and Hungary) through the estimation of a hedonic price function. Retail sales data employed in this study comes from the BC Liquor Distribution Branch and covers weekly sales of table wine that was imported from all five countries into the province of British Columbia. The results indicate that the grape variety is an important factor influencing consumers’ willingness to pay. In particular, white and red wines from Chile are associated with larger price premia while wines from Argentina command a premium only among red wines. Wines from Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary, although sold in large quantities in the BC market, are associated with significant price discounts compared to wines from New World suppliers.