Market Profile for Wine in Continental Europe 2009
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The global wine industry is becoming increasingly sophisticated and internationalised, with at least 67 nations now producing wine and 27 nations exhibiting at the May 2009 London International Wines and Spirits Show (including 17 from Europe). The market remains fragmented but the industry is facing increasing consolidation as companies seek to increase their share of the 25 billion litre world market. During the past decade the number of wine growers in France has fallen by nearly 50 percent, in Italy by 35 percent, and across the EU by 30 percent. Overall EU there is a tendency towards lower consumption, but of better quality wines, and over the last 10 years imports of quality wines have grown by 10 percent per annum. The industry currently faces a variety of challenges including the downturn in the global economy, the rise of concerns about sustainability, health and wellness, over indulgence and “binge drinking”, and the requirement for more information to be added onto labels. Continental EU currently buys NZ$60 million2 of New Zealand wine per annum, which is roughly one quarter of what the United Kingdom buys. The majority of this is sold to countries which do not have domestic production like Benelux and Scandinavia. Scandinavia has high alcohol taxes so the price differential for the consumer between good and bad wines is not high compared to their absolute cost. NZ Wines are concentrating their efforts on the German speaking and the Nordic countries, where there are well educated and connoisseurs wine drinkers who are open to the idea of New World wines. Euromonitor International data has been used throughout this report. Please note that import data is based on FOB not retail prices. Total markets are shown at retail (in-store) and food service (wine list) prices, so import penetration is inherently understated in value, volume figures have been used whenever