RFP Number:
090
Issuance Date:
August 4, 2023
Deadline for Questions:
August 9, 2023
Deadline for Offers:
August 15, 2023
Description:
Facilitating Market Linkages for Georgia Wine Producers
For:
The USAID Agriculture Program
Funded By:
USAID Contract No. 72011418C00001
Implemented By:
CNFA
Point of Contact
Mr. Gia Bibileishvili
Wine Marketing Manager
47, Kostava, Tbilisi, Georgia
+995 32 2982207/13
gbibileishvili@cnfageorgia.org
Section 1: Introduction, Technical Background and Scope of Work
1.1 Introduction
The USAID Agriculture Program aims to boost the growth of agricultural sub-sectors with significant potential to create employment and increase revenues for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME). This program offers investment opportunities and customized technical assistance to market-oriented businesses, production clusters, supporting associations, and service providers, promoting inclusive and sustainable market systems development. Through competitive grants and technical assistance, the USAID Agriculture Program aims to address gaps in targeted value chains, resulting in enhanced productivity and capacity of MSMEs, stronger value chain connections, better market accessibility, and improved capabilities of cooperatives, associations, and service providers.
Wine is one of Georgia’s top export commodities and generated sales worth $252 million in 2022, which is 6% higher than in 2021. However, it is also one of the sectors that is slow in market diversification, as Russia remains the main trade partner, accounting for more than 65% of Georgia’s wine exports. This, coupled with the negative impact of the war in Ukraine, has created a need for increased diversification into strategic markets. Based on the analysis of Georgia’s wine export statistics and trends, the U.S., South Korea, and Germany have been identified as high-potential priority markets.
In order to support existing export trends, the USAID Agriculture Program plans to stimulate the increase of the share of Georgian wine production and its overall awareness in the U.S. market and is seeking an implementing partner with the expertise to conduct the scope of work described below.
1.2: Scope of Work
The purpose of this activity is to support the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA), MEPA’s National Wine Agency, and the Georgian Wine Association to identify and develop relationships with potential distributors in the US, a key export market. The USAID Agriculture Program has recognized that, despite a significant increase of Georgian wine export in the U.S., there is still a gap in the variety and volume of quality Georgian wines in leading U.S. markets. The selected offeror(s) will implement a marketing support activity to stimulate export and subsequently increase the number of quality Georgian wines in the U.S. market. The Program would like to partner with the qualified organization(s) that, through different marketing activities, will facilitate linkages of Georgian wine producer companies with retailers, restaurateurs, and hospitality operators within the target markets to:.
(1) Identify experienced U.S. registered wine importers who have the readiness to import Georgian wines and Georgian wine companies who have sufficient capacity for high-quality wines to export their wines to the U.S. and willingness to cooperate with the selected U.S. importer. Through this business linkage, the selected offeror(s) should ensure the export of at least 50,000 bottles of wine from at least three (3) Georgian wine producer companies (3 different Georgian wine brands); To ensure a more diverse selection of Georgian wines in the US market proposed U.S. importer(s) should not be the same entities who participate in another USAID Agriculture Program Access to Market RFP activity[1].
Or
Identify experienced U.S. registered sales point owner business entity who have readiness to import and sell Georgian wines and Georgian wine companies who have sufficient capacity of high-quality wines to export their wines to the U.S. and willingness to cooperate with the selected U.S. counterpart. Through this business linkage, the selected offeror(s) should ensure the export of at least 30,000 bottles of wine from at least 5 Georgian wine producer companies (5 Georgian wine brands).
(2) The selected offeror(s) may be requested to provide confirmation from the National Wine Agency and/or Customs Department of Revenue Service that either the selected Georgian wine brands have not been exported to the U.S. market or are already exported in contract-assigned quantities;
(3) The agreed-upon volume of wines should be shipped to the U.S. no later than December 2023.
The USAID Agriculture Program may select one or more offerors to perform the Scope of Work. It is understood that interested offerors should have qualifications identified in the Scope of Work.
1.3: Period of Performance:
[1] The USAID Agriculture Program has recently issued the RFP 91 Access to Market Program that aims to contract several wine importers to facilitate the export of Georgian wine to the US market.
About CNFA:
CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains, to expand exports, and to develop skills in the rural workforce. CNFA assists smallholders in increasing household-level food security and nutrition through improved agricultural practices, introduction of new varieties, diversification of crop production, food preservation and storage, development of farmer-based organizations (FBOs) and strengthened linkages to markets.
