My name is Alicia, born and raised in Oakland California, the Bay Area has always been part of my childhood and adulthood. Living in the Bay Area I was exposed to the diversity of people, art, food, culture, and wines. My earliest exposure to wine was during my childhood at family gatherings when the adults would bring their favorite grocery store wines and start playing cards and dancing. What I remember most was their togetherness, joy, and happiness that good food and wine brought to my family monthly gatherings.
In my adult years, I started celebrating special occasions such as birthdays in Napa and Somona at their amazing wineries. My friends and I were wine drinkers and love many different types wines. On my frequent trips to wineries, tasting rooms, and wine shops there were few women and people of color employed at these establishments or winemakers. Coming from a very diverse city and background that bothered me greatly. From that point on I started supporting women and people of color winemakers by purchasing their wine, attending their events, and going to their tasting rooms. After meeting women and minority winemakers and wine farmers their biggest concern was their lack of access to a full cycle business infrastructure that included importing, exporting, marketing & branding, business consulting, and wholesale and distribution services. It is hard for women and minority winemakers and farmers to get their wines directly to the consumer and to the business consumer. Once I noticed this problem, I created the solution and The Wine Noire was launched in September 2017.
The Wine Noire was created to create diversity and inclusion in the wine industry. I am passionate about diversity and inclusion in the wine industry and hospitality space. The Wine Noire provides business solutions services to women and minority winemakers and farmers in California, South Africa, and Latin America. Our motto is to cater to the future of the wine industry and that future is women and people of color.
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A loan helped a woman and minority-owned business overcome challenges posed by the Covid-19.
Alicia's story
This loan is special because:
More about this loan
Business Description
The Wine Noire is a women and women of color wine agency that provides business solutions and consulting for women and minority winemakers and wine farmers in the United States market and the International market. We provide importing services, exporting services, wholesale services, distribution services, event management services, and business consulting services. In addition to providing business services we partner with women and minority winemakers and farmers to grow their wine production and vineyard operations and to help them expand in global emerging markets.
I decided to launch this type of business because there is no representation of women or minorities that own and operate the supply chain of this area in the wine business. Even though there is a slight increase of women and people of color becoming winemakers the major distribution, importing, exporting, wholesale, and event management companies ignore women and minority winemakers. My company solves this problem by offering all of these services to women and minority winemaker’s exclusively.
Our company operates in online, mobile, and has a physical office location. We cater to our clients needs and will meet our clients where they are when it comes to location and services provided.
The biggest challenge our company is experiencing is getting access to capital. As our direct to customer and business clients want more wine, we need to meet their requirements so that means our company needs to remain in full stock of wine at all times. Staying inventory positive means that I need capital upfront to pay the winemakers upon receiving the inventory. Having access to capital is essential to the growth of my business. The future goal of my business is to grow our international wine portfolio in the South Africa region and to help Black South African winemakers and farmers in that region expand their operations in their country and bring their wines into the California market. Another future opportunity in or business is to offer a tech platform that will allow our direct to consumer wine customer and business customer to engage with us on a digital level by placing wine orders, curating wine experiences, and improving global business services.
Our business structure is an LLC with one owner and founder and we hire on a contract bases wine sales representatives and event staff to help our company with wine sales to business and direct to consumer clients.
Our social mission and impact in the wine and hospital industry to offer diversity and inclusion through our hiring practices, business services practices, and marketing practices. As a woman of color owned and operated company and we do business with people of color and that is our mission to offer diversity and inclusion because the future of wine and the hospitality industry is multicultural.
What is the purpose of this loan?
I am choose Kiva as a capital source for my business “ The Wine Noire “ because this organization is a social mission impact company that lends money to businesses that are social mission aligned and similar to my company. Also, I been a Kiva member and lent money to other Kiva businesses in the past. To have the opportunity to lend money to other Kiva businesses I felt empowered.
I am applying for a Kiva loan because I need access to capital to meet my clients growing inventory demand for wine. Due to the type of wines that I provide to my customer, I need to make sure that I have the wines in stock. In addition to having wine inventory, the additional capital will be used for marketing, business services, and hiring staff to perform business operations. Finally, the capital attain from Kiva will grow my business 30% or more in wine sales due to investing in inventory, marketing, and business consulting.
Loan details
Loan length:
Repayment schedule
Monthly: One repayment made per month
End of term: One repayment made at the end of the loan term
Irregular: Any other repayment schedule
To see a detailed repayment schedule for a specific loan, click the "Repayment schedule" link on the loan profile under "Loan details."
What is the disbursed date?
In the case of partner loans, many of our Lending Partners choose to disburse loan funds before the loan request is posted on Kiva. We allow pre-disbursal because it ensures that the funds reach the borrower as soon as they are needed. Loan funds from Kiva lenders then go to backfill that amount and as a lender you assume the risk of the loan. By doing this, our Lending Partners assume the risk that, if the loan isn't funded by lenders, they will have to fund the loan without any funds from Kiva.
If a partner loan is not pre-disbursed, it will be listed on Kiva with an expected "post-disbursed" date. If a post-disbursed loan is not funded on Kiva, there is a chance that the borrower may not receive their loan. Some Lending Partners choose to disburse loans with other sources of funding, while other partners don't have the resources available to fund loans without Kiva lenders' support. No direct loans will be disbursed unless they fully fundraise on Kiva.
Funding model
What does "Partner covers currency loss" mean & how could it affect my Kiva loans?
Potential for currency exchange loss is noted on every loan profile under the loan details:
"Yes" means the Lending Partner will cover any currency loss. Lenders will not bear losses due to currency fluctuation
"Partial" means that the Lending Partner has opted to cover losses only up to 10%. If the U.S. dollar appreciates more than 10% against the local currency, those losses will be passed onto lenders.
"No" means that the Lending Partner is not covering any currency losses and all losses will be passed onto lenders.
"N/A" means the Lending Partner disburses loans to borrowers in USD so their loans are not subject to any currency fluctuation.
Do Kiva borrowers pay any interest on their loans?
Our partners collect interest from borrowers because there are many operational expenses associated with microfinance in developing markets, especially in rural areas. Many of Kiva's Lending Partners also provide additional services alongside their loan products such as business training, financial literacy lessons, or health services.
Kiva will not partner with an organization that charges unreasonable interest rates, and we require Lending Partners to fully disclose their rates. In addition, we only partner with microfinance institutions and organizations that have a social mission to serve the poor, unbanked, and underserved.
There are some 0% interest loans on Kiva, including all direct loans in the United States. To learn more about the interest rates Kiva borrowers pay, you can review the "Average cost to borrower" field on a loan profile.
We also encourage you to read the following articles if you are interested in further educating yourself on the topic: Microfinance 101 (https://www.kiva.org/microfinance), Top 10 things to know about microfinance (https://www.kiva.org/blog/top-10-things-to-know-about-microfinance), Microfinance interest rates explained (https://www.kiva.org/blog/whats-up-with-microfinance-interest-rates)
What is a risk rating?
The Lending Partner risk rating reflects the risk of institutional default associated with each of Kiva’s Lending Partners. A 0.5-star rating means the organization has a relatively higher risk of institutional default, while a 5-star rating indicates the organization is at a relatively lower risk of default, based on Kiva's analysis and the available information displayed in the Lending Partner section of every loan. Lending Partners with the lowest credit tier undergo a lighter level of due diligence and do not receive a risk rating; instead, in places where a risk rating would normally appear, these partners are labeled as “Experimental.” For more information, see "What is an Experimental Lending Partner?"
Direct loans also do not receive a formal risk rating. Instead, these loans are approved through “social underwriting”, where trustworthiness is determined by friends & family lending a portion of the loan request, or by a Kiva approved Trustee vouching for the borrower. Direct loans will appear as "Unrated" and lenders should always assume these loans represent the highest level of repayment risk on Kiva.
How are loans facilitated?
Kiva loans are facilitated through 2 models, partner and direct, that enable us to reach the greatest number of people around the world.
For partner loans, borrowers apply to a local Lending Partner, which manages the loan on the ground. Lending Partners are responsible for screening borrowers, disbursing loans, posting borrowers to the Kiva website for funding, collecting repayments and otherwise administering Kiva loans on the ground to borrowers.
For direct loans, borrowers apply through the Kiva website and may or may not be endorsed by a Trustee. Unlike Lending Partners, Trustees don't handle any financial transactions or have any duty to repay loans on behalf of their borrowers. Instead, Trustees take the role of providing support and business advice to their borrowers throughout the term of the loan.
More information about successive and concurrent loans
Most borrowers take out loans consecutively, meaning that they receive a second loan after having repaid the first. However, sometimes our Lending Partners give out concurrent loans, allowing borrowers to take out one primary loan and a secondary "add-on" loan along with it. These additional loans are typically smaller than the borrower's primary loan and serve a different purpose. We trust our partners to determine whether a borrower has the means to be able to repay a successive or concurrent loan.
About The Wine Noire
Lenders and lending teams
Country: United States
Trustee: Uptima Business Bootcamp
What are Trustee tiers?
For for more information about Trustee tiers, visit: kivaushub.org/trustee-tiers
Why are you endorsing Alicia?
We have had the pleasure of working with Alicia for several years now. Alicia is a natural entrepreneur. She has demonstrated the ability to enroll partners and customers in her vision. She has been resourceful in growing her business with limited capital. And, she has diligently put in place the pieces to ensure her business will thrive despite the economic conditions. We are excited about the next steps for The Wine Noire in growing its distribution of wine produced by people of color.
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Loan tags help lenders find loans that match certain areas of interest.
Loan details
Loan length:
Repayment schedule
Monthly: One repayment made per month
End of term: One repayment made at the end of the loan term
Irregular: Any other repayment schedule
To see a detailed repayment schedule for a specific loan, click the "Repayment schedule" link on the loan profile under "Loan details."
What is the disbursed date?
In the case of partner loans, many of our Lending Partners choose to disburse loan funds before the loan request is posted on Kiva. We allow pre-disbursal because it ensures that the funds reach the borrower as soon as they are needed. Loan funds from Kiva lenders then go to backfill that amount and as a lender you assume the risk of the loan. By doing this, our Lending Partners assume the risk that, if the loan isn't funded by lenders, they will have to fund the loan without any funds from Kiva.
If a partner loan is not pre-disbursed, it will be listed on Kiva with an expected "post-disbursed" date. If a post-disbursed loan is not funded on Kiva, there is a chance that the borrower may not receive their loan. Some Lending Partners choose to disburse loans with other sources of funding, while other partners don't have the resources available to fund loans without Kiva lenders' support. No direct loans will be disbursed unless they fully fundraise on Kiva.
Funding model
What does "Partner covers currency loss" mean & how could it affect my Kiva loans?
Potential for currency exchange loss is noted on every loan profile under the loan details:
"Yes" means the Lending Partner will cover any currency loss. Lenders will not bear losses due to currency fluctuation
"Partial" means that the Lending Partner has opted to cover losses only up to 10%. If the U.S. dollar appreciates more than 10% against the local currency, those losses will be passed onto lenders.
"No" means that the Lending Partner is not covering any currency losses and all losses will be passed onto lenders.
"N/A" means the Lending Partner disburses loans to borrowers in USD so their loans are not subject to any currency fluctuation.
Do Kiva borrowers pay any interest on their loans?
Our partners collect interest from borrowers because there are many operational expenses associated with microfinance in developing markets, especially in rural areas. Many of Kiva's Lending Partners also provide additional services alongside their loan products such as business training, financial literacy lessons, or health services.
Kiva will not partner with an organization that charges unreasonable interest rates, and we require Lending Partners to fully disclose their rates. In addition, we only partner with microfinance institutions and organizations that have a social mission to serve the poor, unbanked, and underserved.
There are some 0% interest loans on Kiva, including all direct loans in the United States. To learn more about the interest rates Kiva borrowers pay, you can review the "Average cost to borrower" field on a loan profile.
We also encourage you to read the following articles if you are interested in further educating yourself on the topic: Microfinance 101 (https://www.kiva.org/microfinance), Top 10 things to know about microfinance (https://www.kiva.org/blog/top-10-things-to-know-about-microfinance), Microfinance interest rates explained (https://www.kiva.org/blog/whats-up-with-microfinance-interest-rates)
What is a risk rating?
The Lending Partner risk rating reflects the risk of institutional default associated with each of Kiva’s Lending Partners. A 0.5-star rating means the organization has a relatively higher risk of institutional default, while a 5-star rating indicates the organization is at a relatively lower risk of default, based on Kiva's analysis and the available information displayed in the Lending Partner section of every loan. Lending Partners with the lowest credit tier undergo a lighter level of due diligence and do not receive a risk rating; instead, in places where a risk rating would normally appear, these partners are labeled as “Experimental.” For more information, see "What is an Experimental Lending Partner?"
Direct loans also do not receive a formal risk rating. Instead, these loans are approved through “social underwriting”, where trustworthiness is determined by friends & family lending a portion of the loan request, or by a Kiva approved Trustee vouching for the borrower. Direct loans will appear as "Unrated" and lenders should always assume these loans represent the highest level of repayment risk on Kiva.
How are loans facilitated?
Kiva loans are facilitated through 2 models, partner and direct, that enable us to reach the greatest number of people around the world.
For partner loans, borrowers apply to a local Lending Partner, which manages the loan on the ground. Lending Partners are responsible for screening borrowers, disbursing loans, posting borrowers to the Kiva website for funding, collecting repayments and otherwise administering Kiva loans on the ground to borrowers.
For direct loans, borrowers apply through the Kiva website and may or may not be endorsed by a Trustee. Unlike Lending Partners, Trustees don't handle any financial transactions or have any duty to repay loans on behalf of their borrowers. Instead, Trustees take the role of providing support and business advice to their borrowers throughout the term of the loan.
More information about successive and concurrent loans
Most borrowers take out loans consecutively, meaning that they receive a second loan after having repaid the first. However, sometimes our Lending Partners give out concurrent loans, allowing borrowers to take out one primary loan and a secondary "add-on" loan along with it. These additional loans are typically smaller than the borrower's primary loan and serve a different purpose. We trust our partners to determine whether a borrower has the means to be able to repay a successive or concurrent loan.
Trustee: Uptima Business Bootcamp
What are Trustee tiers?
For for more information about Trustee tiers, visit: kivaushub.org/trustee-tiers
Why are you endorsing Alicia?
We have had the pleasure of working with Alicia for several years now. Alicia is a natural entrepreneur. She has demonstrated the ability to enroll partners and customers in her vision. She has been resourceful in growing her business with limited capital. And, she has diligently put in place the pieces to ensure her business will thrive despite the economic conditions. We are excited about the next steps for The Wine Noire in growing its distribution of wine produced by people of color.
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