“MADE IN ITALY” WINE EXPORT BOOM IN THE U.S. (+7.6%): A “GLOBAL” EFFECT ACCORDING TO COLDIRETTI

There has been a true boom for “Made in Italy” wine exports to the United States, with an increase of +7.6%, and the concrete possibility of reaching a total value of one billion dollars by the end of the year (thanks in part to the effects of the Italian World Cup soccer victory). These are the conclusions that Coldiretti recently announced after an analysis of data from the Italian Food & Wine Institute for the first nine month of 2006.
The data also revealed that Italian production confirmed its leadership because of its refusal to use wood chips in winemaking, a practice which is allowed among Australian competitors. This is a confirmation of the value of the Italian “guarantee” on the international market where, according to the National Brand Index by Simon Anholt, it has conquered third place precisely because of its excellent cuisine, its perfect landscapes, and the capacity of its wine to express the country’s essence. Italian wine, in fact, counts for almost one third (31%) of the entire foreign wine market in the United States, followed closely by Australia (30%), which is forced to sell its wine with a low price politic, and then by France (14%), which after years of difficulty is now changing its trend and has actually registered the highest increase in earning rates (+29%) and has even surpassed Australia in respect to total value.

For Italy, this is an encouraging result, even for the current harvest that is considered an excellent year quality-wise, though limited in quantity (about 50 million hectoliters total). Wine is Italy’s principle food export to the United States, which is also the top exporting country, taking one quarter of all Italian wine exports. The quality and competitivity of Italian production have pushed this increase in consumption among Americans. And this result has also been aided by the results of numerous commercial studies that prove the positive health effects of drinking wine, like the anti-ageing effects from resveratrol and the anti-stress effects from melatonin (a hormone that plays an important role regulating sleep cycles), both components that are found in wine.

The results of 2006 demonstrate a new and significant opportunity for the growth of “Made in Italy” wine, which already last year reached a record earning of 9 billion euros, 3 of which were earned in exports, and with almost one third of production guaranteed DOC and DOCG wines.