2018, down sales of wine in large-scale distribution in Italy (-5.6% in volume), values grow (+1.9%)

The recovery of wine consumption in Italy is struggling, at least looking at the figures for large-scale distribution, where more than half of the bottles consumed in Italy are sold. Italians, therefore, are ready to spend a little more, but on the condition that they drink less, and if the bottle is the favorite format, only the bag-in-box, which is still by far the minority, is growing.
If 2017 and the first months of 2018, gave hope for a substantial recovery in consumption, the balance of the year just closed is a half failure, with a slightly encouraging -5.6% in volume, for a total of just over 480 million liters of packaged wine. Iri’s data, analyzed by WineNews, say, relating to the last 52 weeks in hyper and supermarkets and small free service, closed on December 30, 2018. In contrast, there was a growth of 1.9% in value, slightly higher than the sum of 1.6 billion euros, with an average price per liter, overall, of 3.4 euros per liter, up 7.9%.
In terms of types, although all declining, there is still a clear prevalence of red wine, at 244 million liters (-5.9%) for a value of 873.6 million euros (+1.8%), with an average price of 3.6 euros per liter (+8.2%), ahead of white wines, at 207.5 million liters (-5.1%) for 679 million euros (+1.9%) and an average price of 3.3 euros per liter (+7.4%). Rose wines are still a minority, at least in terms of volume, and are worth just 28.7 million liters (-6.5%) for 80.6 million euro, with an average price of 2.8 euro per liter (+9.7%).
Among the formats, the domino is still that of the bottle up to 0.75liters, which is worth more than half of the volumes, at 252 million liters (-3%) and three quarters of the values, with 1.2 billion euros (+1.8%), as well as being the format that guarantees, by far, the highest average price per liter, at 4.9 euros per liter (+5%).
The volume percentage of wine in brick is still significant, at 134.8 million liters, despite a drop of 8.1% in volume, with a growth in value of 4.8%, to 209.5 million euros, despite a very low average price of 1.6 euros per liter (+14%). Plastic (-11%, at 16.3 million litres, for 22 million euro, +3.2%, and an average price of 1.4 euro per litre) and other formats (19.1 million litres, -13.1%, for 31.1 million euro, -4%, at 1.6 euro per litre on average) are also losing ground, while the only format to grow both in volume and value is the bag in box, with a jump of 8.9% in quantity, to 14.3 million liters, and a value that is close to 25 million euros (+18.4%), to 1.7 euros per liter on average.