Dina Opici, WSSA Board of Director, Speaks to Wine & Spirits Daily

Dina Opici, President of Opici Family Distributing and a WSSA Board of Director, recently sat down with Wine & Spirits Daily to discuss the effects of industry consolidation and expansion.

“WSD: One of the biggest ongoing issues for distributors in New York is the at-rest law. Where does Opici fall on the issue?

Dina: We are not in favor of the at-rest proposal. We do have a warehouse in Syracuse. We currently warehouse and deliver out of northern New Jersey for metro New York. Could we pivot and shift our business to put up a warehouse in the metro New York area — of course we could. But I think that the reason we’re against it is that it will eliminate a lot of competition. And New York is the kind of area where you need a lot of choices because it’s so diverse.

As a member of the New York Alliance of Fine Wine Wholesalers, we are opposed to it and we’ve started a campaign called “Stop the Cork Tax.” The campaign was initiated by the New York Wine Alliance in order to make sure that we’re educating the consumers on what at-rest could mean for them –higher prices, less selection. But when you look at it in the real world, what industry is restricted in how they have to do business to the extent that they can’t warehouse in a given state. I think that there’s something inherently wrong with it from a competition standpoint, and the only reason to support it is if you want to eliminate the competition.

WSD: What kind of trends are you seeing in the retail channel?

Dina: Having just gone into the mid-Atlantic region, we’re now also I guess dipping our toe in more of a chain market. It’s interesting because, for us the largest chain market we’re in is Florida. When you look at the number of items registered in New York — I recall seeing a survey done at one point that reflected there were 25,000 SKUs registered in New York and 14,000 SKUs in Florida. So it’s a huge difference. I think that the chains are recognizing that and they need to offer a broader spectrum of choices to the consumer and so they’re looking at a broader network of distributors. We’re seeing that in Florida. Last October, we hired 30 people and started a chain division in Florida, because we’re seeing the chains starting to look at us in a more meaningful way.

I think that’s a decision you need to make, are you going to service that business or aren’t you? We feel that our portfolio necessitates that we do that. We’ve been given the opportunity, so we started a separate division. We still have our traditional sales force which we recently renamed the “Century Sales Division” as my grandfather will be turning 100 this year and we thought it was an appropriate reference. They are focused in Florida in on-premise and independent retail but there is a big opportunity for us on the chain side and that’s nice to see. Because I don’t think that they’re looking to be as tied to the big brands as maybe they have in the past. And I think that’s due in part to the consumer looking for a more diverse selection.

WSD: Any more expansion plans?

Dina: I’ve been told I need to breathe. We expanded into upstate New York in 2007. We expanded into DC in 2012. We went to Maryland and Delaware in 2013. We recently got our license in Virginia. I feel that gives us a really nice piece of the eastern seaboard. And right now in 2016 our focus is on continuing to cultivate our most recent expansions and really looking internally at where we can do things better.

We’ve had that opportunity to expand, but now my thoughts are more focused on upgrading our IT systems and warehouse operations, better educating our sales teams, and solidifying our supplier base so that we continue to improve upon the way we do business. I do have one state in mind which I won’t say out loud yet for fear that our operations team would lock me out of the building, but I think we’ll see how things play out here on the east coast from a consolidation standpoint. See if it opens up an opportunity for us. Stay tuned!

WSD: What kind of impact will the recent industry consolidation have on Opici?

Dina: I view the industry consolidation as extremely positive for us. If you look at how the consolidation impacted us in the state of New York, I can’t help but be encouraged by the continued trends towards further consolidation. To be clear, we do not fight on the same playing field as the national wholesale networks, however, in some of the markets that we are in, we find ourselves playing the role of the next largest wholesaler, and that is a great position to be in. Due to our supplier framework, we are not reliant on any one partner, and that allows us to expand our portfolio and still offer the focus necessary to bring the brands to market that cannot get that same visibility in the larger houses. Any time there is change, there is uncertainty, and things fall through the cracks –it’s important that we are there to pick up the pieces by offering more time and attention to our suppliers and better service and sales expertise to our customers.

WSD: When you look five years down the road where do you see Opici?

Dina: For me it would be continuing to strengthen our base in the markets that we’re in and develop the markets that we’ve recently gone into; continue to be more meaningful to the customer, looking at other ways to do business with them; and looking at expanding our spirits portfolio, so that we again can offer more to our customers. Where we go in each state leads us down somewhat of a different path, but the goal at the end is the same — to be the most respected family owned wholesaler in the market who suppliers want to work with, customers want to do business with and good people want to work for.

I think it’s challenging, it’s not a stand still kind of business and because of that, I don’t like to be too committed to a structured plan because it changes. If you had asked me the day before we decided to go into Upstate New York if I thought that was in the plan, I would have said to you, “There’s no way.” And then overnight, the consolidation of Peerless and Empire and Southern and Eber bros, created an environment where if we didn’t expand we wouldn’t have been successful… while I recognize what we need to do as a company to continue to have strength in the market, I also recognize that we have to be able to pivot from that approach as opportunity arises. As I sit here today, I’m not quite sure where the road will lead us. I think that changes around us will make that really clear and give us the ability to pursue it. But I can assure you we will have fun along the way.

WSD: Thank you for your time, Dina.”