Raising a Glass: exploring wine culture and consumption on Guam

BY SKYLER OBISPO
Journal Staff

Wine is available at nearly every store where you can purchase alcohol on the island. The Village of Donki, Pay-Less Supermarkets, and Cost-U-Less have aisles dedicated to wines of all varieties and in the past month a wine boutique has planted itself near the heart of Hagåtña.

Gas stations retail the beverage also, with 76 Circle K offering a dedicated fixture in some locations, and wine is available in village marts and convenience stores.

Despite its prevalence and relatively cheaper costs compared to some other spirits, wine sales have been down both on the island and internationally.

Luxury goods conglomerate, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, reported in its third quarter revenue report, that wine and spirits revenue has consistently been in the negative with a negative eight percent organic decline in the first nine months of 2024 and a negative six percent organic decline for champagne and wine revenue versus 2023.

In Guam, Pay-Less Supermarkets reported that the chain is observing a decline in sales, in wine but also in the broader liquor category.

Alyssa Leon Guerrero, a category buyer for Pay-Less, said that the business attributes the downward trend to a decline in consumer spending and a changing drinking culture.

 “We believe several factors are contributing to this such as inflation and customer spending habits; customers are being more selective with their discretionary purchases,” she said. “The ‘sober curious’ movement seems to be growing, as well, Leon Guerrero said. “We also believe the increase of ‘at home-consumption’ we observed during the pandemic may have subsided.”

Leon Guerrero said that ready-to-drink beverages, like hard seltzers and canned cocktails, have seen an uptick, but taxes on RTDs make it more difficult for those beverages to remain competitive.
Pay-Less purchases more than $1.5 million in wine annually from a number of wholesalers and distributors on the island.

One wholesaler the supermarket purchases its wine from is Lorea Industries Inc., which imports exclusive wine and groceries from Spain, Portugal, and South America.

 Lorea Industries Inc.’s president, Mari Flor Herrero told the Journal that the business, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, brought in four to five containers a year, but now is lucky to have two or three come in. Herrero said each container is worth anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000.

She said her business is about half of what it was pre-pandemic but is slowly picking up.

Despite the slowing shipments, Herrero said sees it as an opportunity to focus on selling higher quality wines at smaller volumes, which she prefers.

“Before I would sell more volume, but cheaper wines. Now I sell less bottles, but it's so much better business because it's better wine,” she said. “When you sell a wine that costs, let’s say, $20 or $50 you make more money than when you sell one bottle that costs $8. So basically, work less but make more.”

Wine connoisseurs drive most of Herrero’s business, which she sees as a growing consumer base on the island.

“Another thing that I have noticed … is that most of the people now when they come here or when they go to the store anywhere, they have their phone or they have their app and before they purchase a wine they go into the app and figure out where does it come from, what is the rating, what are the grapes, how many points, how much is the price. That is a way of educating themselves,” she said.
She said this trend has been strong in the last two to three years, but the culture has existed for a while on the island.

Sarah Morrison, president of ANZ Wines, told the Journal her business has also seen a “continual, steady increase in demand” in the Guam market, with much of her customer base leaning towards good quality Sauvignon Blanc.

ANZ Wines imports and distributes exclusive wines from Australia and New Zealand to the retail market, as well as to hotels and restaurants across Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Brian Artero, CEO of Crave Group, which opened Provisions Wine and Cheese, and Cara Cruz, manager at Provisions, said that the demand at their shop is in its Italian wines.  (See new businesses story.)

Austin San Agustin, operations manager at France Wines Etc. noticed that when the company opened in 2019, there was a demand for French wines, and that there was no real French wine presence at the time.

At least for the smaller distributors of wine on Guam, the demand for higher quality wines are there and recovery is slow, but steady to pre-pandemic sales. Education is the next step for these businesses to sell their higher quality wines and Public Law 37-128 would help do just that.

The legislation was signed into law on Oct. 11 and adds a new instructional tasting licence for alcoholic beverages, allowing for tastings and private events outside of a shop’s regular operating hours.
Provisions aims to offer “wine flights” in the near future, which is a selection of related wines and for new drinkers, Cruz said that the business can help them purchase their first bottle.

“We would show them a wine that we think is a good wine to start with,” she said. “Whether they like white or red wine, we would be able to have them try something that we think they might like.” mbj