Pisco has been one of the most export-focused categories in the industry over the past decade, with both Chile and Peru targeting new markets thanks to its lucrative international sales potential. Of course, the ongoing dispute over the origins of pisco rumbles on between the two countries, but with a less than ideal 2020 for both par- ties, perhaps a global pandemic could help align them with the common goal of increasing exports. 

In February 2020, Pisco Chile invited Drinks International to visit a variety of local producers and gather insight into the export strategies of the category. “Pisco is huge in Chile and it’s what most people drink here, but domestic consumption is falling,” said Pisco Chile brand ambassador Rodrigo Flores. “A combination of healthier lifestyles and a wider choice of drinks has contributed to people drinking less pisco, so we need to look outside Chile to ensure the growth of the category.” 

Jessica Fernandez Moreno, export manager for CCU’s Pisquera de Chile pisco subsidiary, added: “The main challenge for Chilean pisco is to develop the category throughout the world by building new business relationships with new importers in relevant markets such as Asia, Europe and Latin America. 

“Once we have entered each one of the markets the idea is to develop a strategy through education to spread knowledge about the category with our portfolio. These days the consumption of pisco in Chile is stable and not growing, so we are putting all our efforts into making pisco as known as any other leading spirits category.”

These words of course preceded the extraordinary events of 2020. The effects Covid-19 has had on the wider pisco category are potentially devastating in the long term and may have forced a change in tactics for both pisco-producing nations. 

EXPORTS DIVE

Since the turn of the century Peru has had the upper hand over Chile in terms of export volumes, but both countries have suffered declines as a result of the pandemic. According to the Chilean Office for International Economic Relations, the country’s pisco exports decreased by 21% between January and June of 2020, compared to the first half of 2019. 

Rafael Zacnich, manager of economic studies at the Foreign Trade Society, told Franklin Briceño of Associated Press that Peruvian pisco exports fell 55% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, which equals 400,000 fewer litres. 

Peru was also one of the first countries in Latin America to close its borders and enter a long and strict lock- down, severely affecting production. The mandatory closures of vineyards across the country meant thousands of farmers lost the vast majority of their harvests and, according to the same report from Briceño, more than 500 pisco producers in Peru saw a sales drop of more than 50% during the pandemic. 

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“Some could not harvest anything and those who were able to harvest received such a low price that it did not cover their expenses,” says Rosa Grados of Peruvian brand Cholo Matías.

The La Caravedo winery in the Ica Valley, home to Pisco Portón – one of the bestselling brands in Drinks International’s Brands Report – experienced a poor export performance in 2020. Master distiller Johnny Schuler says Covid-19 has had a “brutal effect” on sales and that his brand exported less than 30% of what it did in 2019. As an authority on Peruvian pisco, Schuler adds that in the first half of 2020, Pisco Portón experienced a decline in orders from the US, Italy and Spain, which are some of the biggest export markets for the wider pisco category. All of these figures appear damning for the category, which had built up an encouraging export strategy over the past decade or so. But work is already well underway to try to offset the poor performance of 2020 and rekindle the flame of export markets. Across the border in Chile, where exports still represent a tiny portion of the category’s overall sales, Flores of Pisco Chile aims to increase the proportion from less than 1% to 5% in the next five years.

FOCAL POINTS

During Drinks International’s visit to Chilean brand Mal Paso in the Limarí Valley, Coquimbo, chief of operations Gustavo Javier Pozo Prohens discussed the countries being targeted for future exports. As well as Poland and Germany being focal points, Australia was singled out by Prohens as a future target. “Germany and Poland are our primary export focus,” said Prohens in February 2020. “We’ve built it to 1,000 cases a year and it’s slow but organic growth. Australia will be our next big target and I think bars are where the action is.”

A promising sign is that, in August last year, the brand announced its entry into the Australian market via a distribution deal with Pinnacle Drinks, suggesting that even in the thick of the pandemic there were still trade deals crossing the line. Aside from striking new overseas partnerships, Chilean pisco has been working hard to earn new Geographical Indicators in international markets. In July 2020, an application was submitted to gain recognition of Chilean Pisco in India, while the category also earned its name in Thailand in April this year.

Following the recent success in Thailand, the undersecretary of international economic relations, Rodrigo Yáñez, said: “This decision recognises the strength of our appellation of origin of pisco, the oldest in Chile, complying with the highest international standards.

“The ruling of the Court of Appeals is consistent with the country’s national strategy that seeks for the Chilean geographical indication to coexist with the Peruvian one in international markets.”

As early as 2012 Peruvian pisco brands had been reportedly piggybacking the international expansion of Peruvian cuisine, gaining listings in restaurants in some of the trendiest ‘foodie’ cities around the world. It appears this remains a focus for Peru’s export strategy, with the launch of a second Pisco College in Europe in March this year, the first having opened in Brussels in 2019. Paris is the location of the new training centre, which aims to educate hospitality and restaurant professionals in the French capital on everything there is to know about Peruvian pisco. Having a full education programme permanently located in one of the world’s top culinary cities could be an effective way to not only increase the presence of Peruvian pisco in restaurants globally, but open it up to a wider variety of cuisines.

It’s always impressive to see the resilience of spirits categories during troublesome times. It feels like the more pisco is backed into a corner, the harder it comes out swinging. With both Chile and Peru showing versatility to keep their momentum moving forward, the devastating effects of 2020 will be short lived. It’s probably naive to think it possible, but now more than ever Peru and Chile would
benefit from establishing a more co-operative approach to pisco’s export growth, particularly in light of the economic effects which are likely to rebound from the pandemic in the future years.