several years.
1. Gallo can introduce new products designed to bring in new consumers.
2. Gallo can enter whole new markets through acquisitions or business arrangements with non-alcoholic beverage producers.
1. When Gallo introduced its Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers, it appealed to a group of consumers that did not formerly drink wine or wine products. The successful introduction of the soda pop type beverage indicates that Gallo can conduct the necessary research and development effort that results in a strong product. In addition, the company has the financial resources that can bring about the marketing effort required to successfully introduce a new product. Similar products could be introduced to continue to bring new consumers to the Gallo family.
This does not mean that the company should abandon its current product lines. Clearly, there is a market for Thunderbird, for example, that it is not in the best interest of the company to ignore. The company manufactures alcoholic beverages, and wine-based beverages at that. To imply that lower socio-economic individuals are likely to become alcoholics because of the availability of products such as Thunderbird overlooks the large numbers of alcoholics who come from middle-class and upper-class backgrounds. The company has an obligation to its shareholders to continue to make a profit, and to its consumers to continue to provide a product that is, within restrictions, a legal product to market.
2. It is not reasonable to ignore the issue of the fortified wines and the general trend away from alcoholic beverages altogether, however, and it is for these reasons that the company should consider entering the non-alcoholic beverage market. Nonalcoholic beers have begun to be sold with some success, but the issue with nonalcoholic wines is that they are essentially grape juice. However, teaming with other beverage producers to market nonalcoholic beverages targe...