Weak Dollar Hits U.S. Gourmets in Their Wallets

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Otherwise we are preparing for "la grande bouffe"

Earl

****





Weak Dollar Hits U.S. Gourmets in Their Wallets
Wed December 17, 2003 01:48 PM ET


By Nichola Groom

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans whose holiday season isn't complete without
fine European food and wine are finding they can't get as much Beaujolais
for their buck this year.

As the value of the dollar declines against the euro, its purchasing power
is reduced. And unless producers or importers of European goods make up
some of the difference, consumers end up carrying the tab.

Dollar prices of gourmet products from euro-zone countries are up an
average of about 20 percent from a year ago, according to several
importers.

The increase is even steeper for some products. For instance, a bottle of
Santa Maria Justina pinot grigio that sold for $9.99 last year now goes for
$15 as problems with this year's vintage added to woes surrounding the weak
dollar.

Because of the sharp price rise, Verdoni Imports of Hawthorne, New Jersey,
has stopped carrying the wine.

Anthony Verdoni, the importer's president, said the weak dollar has also
led to higher freight costs. Shipping wine from Europe costs about $2 more
per case than it did a year ago, he said.

All in all, Verdoni said his small business will not be profitable this
year because of the weak dollar.

Despite strong U.S. economic growth, the dollar has fallen more than 18
percent against the euro in 2003 and is down nearly 50 percent from the
all-time high it reached against the European currency in October 2000.

"What you really have is kind of a perfect storm scenario," said Bill
Terlato, president of importer Paterno Wines International. "This is one of
the factors that is completely out of everybody's control."

To maintain market share, the Lake Bluff, Illinois, company has tried not
to raise prices this year. But Terlato said gross margins have suffered,
and he expects to renegotiate prices for 2004 in coming weeks.

SALES SUFFERING

Most importers have already been raising prices, and some said sales for
the crucial holiday period are flagging as a result.

Mark Zaslavsky, president of Miami-based importer Marky's Caviar, said he
expects sales this holiday season to fall below last year's.

Because of the weak dollar, his products -- which include Russian caviar,
Norwegian smoked salmon and French foie gras -- are "very expensive," he
said.

To make matters worse for Marky's, which relies on French imports for about
30 percent of its business, Americans still have a lingering aversion to
products from France because of Paris' opposition to the U.S.-led war in
Iraq earlier this year.

French wines also face lower-priced competition from California brands,
said Sean Holland, head of marketing for Table & Vine, a wine retailer in
Northampton, Massachusetts.

"There is a huge glut of California wine right now," Holland said.

The situation for importers only seems to be getting worse, as the dollar
keeps hitting new bottoms against the euro.

The euro, which hit an all-time low of $0.8225 to the dollar in 2000, began
2003 at $1.0490 and hit $1.2418 on Wednesday. With U.S. interest rates
still at historic lows, no one is expecting the greenback to stabilize any
time soon.

"People have been very cautious with how much inventory they want to bring
in," said John Pierce, president of Vins de Vie, a Spokane,
Washington-based importer specializing in French wines. "It's definitely
tough to time payments and to keep it profitable on this side."

For its part, Marky's began farming its own Russian sturgeon for beluga and
sevruga caviar six months ago.

"We are trying to grow fish in Florida," Zaslavsky said, "so in the future
we will not depend on the exchange rate."

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:52:00 +0100, Earl Evleth wrote:

finding they can't get as much Beaujolais for their buck this year.

I thought the USAans had stopped buying French stuff...... or have they
grown up at last?
--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn't.

Earl Evleth wrote:

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Does that get through US customs?

David

--
David Horne- (website under reconstruction)
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

David Horne schrieb:

Earl Evleth wrote:

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Does that get through US customs?

David

--
David Horne- (website under reconstruction)
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Not only is the money a problem- according to a radio news item I just
heard, beginning next year all food items sent to the USA have to be
cleared IN ADVANCE on some government internet site. Seems to be some
new anti-terrorist legislation.

Anyone have more information?

T.

Dans l'article
1g661dj.1nqon2w1nmae6cN%this_address_is_for_spam@ yahoo.co.uk,
(David Horne) a écrit :


Earl Evleth wrote:

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Does that get through US customs?

David

As long as it is canned, which this was, the answer is yes.

Donna Evleth

--
David Horne- (website under reconstruction)
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

"Thomas Peel" wrote in message
...


David Horne schrieb:

Earl Evleth wrote:

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Does that get through US customs?

David

--
David Horne- (website under reconstruction)
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Not only is the money a problem- according to a radio news item I just
heard, beginning next year all food items sent to the USA have to be
cleared IN ADVANCE on some government internet site. Seems to be some
new anti-terrorist legislation.

Anyone have more information?

T.

see https://www.access.fda.gov/

JohnT

On 18/12/03 19:52, in article , "Donna
Evleth" wrote:



Dans l'article
1g661dj.1nqon2w1nmae6cN%this_address_is_for_spam@ yahoo.co.uk,
(David Horne) a écrit :


Earl Evleth wrote:

Our daughter was visiting us here in Paris in November, and
left with a bag full of goodies for Noel in Florida. Foie
gras, evidently.

Does that get through US customs?

David

As long as it is canned, which this was, the answer is yes.

Donna Evleth



Another information is that canned pork and beef products are not
allowed. Goose and duck is. I don`t know if this is law
but the US Customs asked us about it.

Some "foie gras" is mixed with pork liver, these are usually cheaper
pâtés. The pure fois gras will come in "bloc" or some indication that
it is from single piece of liver.

Another thing our daughter likes are "rillette" which is hashed meat,
wand this can be from pure ducke or normally goose. That is allowed
through. I brought sime through in jar form too, so it does not
have to be in metal cans but cooked and sealed not fresh. So one
can not bring in a terrine of foie gras in a terrine, open to the
air.

Next there is always the risk that a certain inspector does not know
all the rules. I have not ran into one, however.

Earl

In article m,
Tim Challenger "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:

I thought the USAans had stopped buying French stuff...... or have they
grown up at last?

Don't count on it. Polls still showing a majority of Americans still
believe Saddam was involved in 9/11.

Hi,

well I don't really care for beaujolais myself...

I'll go for a big california red usually... but my mother prefers a cote
du rhone.

I didn't know I'd ever stopped... though I do prefer a certain
california premium sparkling wine to most Champagne.

but then the vast majority of Champagne imported is brut... though I may
break out a bottle of demi-sec Champagne at Christmas for a comparison
side by side with american demi-secs.

ttyl

akia

Tim Challenger wrote:

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:52:00 +0100, Earl Evleth wrote:



finding they can't get as much Beaujolais for their buck this year.



I thought the USAans had stopped buying French stuff...... or have they
grown up at last?

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 18:05:53 GMT, poldy wrote:

In article m,
Tim Challenger "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" wrote:

I thought the USAans had stopped buying French stuff...... or have they
grown up at last?

Don't count on it. Polls still showing a majority of Americans still
believe Saddam was involved in 9/11.

That settles it then. All Americans believe Saddam was behind 9/11.
---
DFM