With a turnover that in 2018 was close to 811 million euros, 40% due to Prosecco, Great Britain today represents the third largest outlet market for Made in Italy wine, after the United States and Germany. More specifically, for English consumers, Italy is the second country in the world from which the best fine wines come after France. What future does Brexit hold for our exports? The Istituto Grandi Marchi commissioned the Nomisma Wine Monitor observatory to carry out a study entitled “High quality Italian wines on the UK market. Between Brexit and French competition” which provides a series of useful indications for our wine producers.
The research observed the perception, positioning and consumption habits relating to Italian fine wines in the light of a possible definitive exit of Great Britain from the EU. The first figure is comforting: despite the general climate of uncertainty linked to the post-vote effects, a positive sentiment still prevails among current British consumers of top Italian wines in the sense that 59% of the sample interviewed (1.000 wine users aged between 18 and 65 years old) declares that it will continue to consume the same quantities as today even if prices rise. On the other hand, the situation with respect to made in Italy wine in general is different, for which the prospects are less rosy for 53% of respondents: in the face of any price increases, 11% would stop buying them and a further 42% would continue to consume them but in small quantities. Among the youngest, the share of those who think of reducing consumption in favor of beer is growing.
All in a scenario that in the first eight months of 2019 sees wine-making Italy chasing France, losing shares on sparkling wines (-9% in value), but recovering on the stills, starting with reds from Piedmont and Veneto. It can be deduced that it is the price lever that makes the difference.
“A decisive aspect – he underlines Piero Mastroberardino, president of the Institute of Italian Quality Wine Grandi Marchi – both if we look at the race with the French competitors, who have not surprisingly recovered market shares with aggressive actions on Champagne, and if we consider any increases linked to Brexit. These would inevitably influence purchases, leaving wide margins for low cost, indicated by 44% of the sample interviewed as the main purchasing factor in this historical moment. Looking instead at the glass half full, the study confirms that for 38% of the opinions the origin of the wine and the brand are still priority criteria, placing our country at the top of the list together with France and Australia. What we intend to focus on for our part is therefore the further growth of the value of fine wines, working in a targeted and more structured way on strategic channels that go beyond large-scale distribution, such as Horeca and online commerce, where the value and charm of our wines can guarantee wide margins for development”.
It is no coincidence that the IGM survey also focuses on the main dynamics linked to English catering and e-commerce, which for the top Italian labels represent two decisive 'squares' for intensifying sales. Suffice it to say that analyzing 350 restaurants, representative of the London on-trade channel, 63% of them have at least one top Italian label on their wine list (considering only 0,75 bottles over £50). Furthermore, according to the data, Italian fine wines represent a total of 16% of all references with a price above £ 50 present in the wine lists analysed. Only France surpasses us, which holds 57% of the total number of bottles over £50 present. Looking at Italian wines as a whole, the ratio is 19% against 50% for France. Tuscany and Piedmont are in the top 10 of the most present territories of origin (respectively in 5th and 7th place in the ranking of top wines).
Good performances were also recorded in the main English e-commerce sites of quality wines. From the web analysis carried out on Lay&Wheeler, Winedirect and Laithwaite's, Italy occupies a good position in terms of number of references, especially on Lay&Wheeler where there are almost 700 national labels. In terms of the most common types, the reds stand out (on Lay & Wheeler they represent 92% of the Italian labels), while as regards the regions with the greatest assortment, Tuscany and Piedmont shine (from which, on average, 80% of our labels come from). Returning to fine wines (over £35/bottle), their incidence is 17% on Winedirect, 20% on Laithwaite's and reaches up to 58% on Lay & Wheeler. Although the latter is the site with the widest assortment of top wines (Italian and otherwise), Winedirect is however the one to record the highest incidence of fine wines made in Italy: almost 3 references out of 10.
“In a scenario of possible price increases – underlines Denis Pantini, head of Nomisma Wine Monitor – quality is the only factor capable of keeping consumption unchanged. So much so that 20% of the British think so. Percentage that grows up to 23% among consumers of Italian wine and reaches 27% among those who today are already users of top labels from our country. It's not just a question of higher-than-average income to guarantee this loyalty to our fine wines, it also counts the aptitude for using the internet and social media and having frequented Italy for vacation or study reasons: between English tourists who have been to our country, the percentage of those who drink Italian fine wines goes from 18% to 34%”.
