Behind the growth in 2021 is the shadow of the challenges small companies have faced experienced

Italian wine is enjoying an enviable state of health, according to the numbers. The reason for this is that 2021 was a spectacular year of recovery for the sector, which allowed it to overcome the downfall in 2020 and return, but in many cases exceed, turnover in 2019, the last year before the onset of the Pandemic. Above all, results from the markets were excellent. Italian wine achieved 5.82 billion euros in turnover in the first 10 months of 2021, growing + 13% compared to 2020 and registering record data practically everywhere, from the United States to Germany. So, everything is fine, then? Yes and no. Yes, because numbers rarely lie. No, because in addition to unknowns regarding the International situation, which has pushed the cost of energy and raw materials up to the highest prices ever, the challenges of many small companies are hidden in the folds of spectacular growth.

Marco Alessandro Bani, director of the Chianti Wine Consortium sounded the alar. He commented on Bank Intesa Sanpaolo data relative to exports of the Colli Fiorentini and Senesi wine district, underlining that +17% growth in the first 9 months of 2021 compared to 2019, “doesn’t mean it's all fun and games. On the contrary, there are various types of situations in the wine sector. Some companies are struggling because banking institutions do not grant them credit. When it comes to growth, we must also consider a greater need for financing, necessary to pay for the increase in inventory. This growth is all on the shoulders of businesses and the banking system is not very supportive. The wine world is wide-ranging”, concluded the director of the Chianti Wine Consortium, “and it includes not only large companies, but also small ones, which must be helped. We, therefore, need a general, all-round support system”.
More than marching to a different drum, it is a realistic message, which sheds light on the complications of a world made up of tens of thousands of companies and hundreds of different denominations and territories, each with its own commercial dynamics, margins and capacity to stay on the market. After all, one of the strengths of Italian wine is its extraordinary diversity, which also means different needs, starting with the support of the credit system and politics.