German distributors leaded by Italian wine, Eggers & Franke confirmed as leader

The turnovers of supplier companies of wine in Germany have grown in 2024 on average, despite the difficulties of the year, and Italy deserves much credit. After all, Italy has the best European market in the Teutonic country in terms of export, and, therefore, casually, three out of four companies which grew the most – out of the ten analyzed by German magazine “Meininger’s” - have a very strong Italian portfolio: Eggers & Franke (where Italian wine is worth 47%), Schenk (international group owning wineries all over Europe, and not only, with Schenk Italian Wineries, ed 53%), and, obviously Saffer, dedicating 90% of its catalog to Italy.
According to Nielsen Iq data, Italian wines have been among the few capable of growing both in volume of sales and earnings in the last two years, explains Meininger’s. But, Italy is not sufficient by itself, and many German suppliers agree about the necessity to invest more in marketing linked to their wines also to flank and support those who, then, are in first line in sale. Themes which will be deepened by WineNews also during ProWein (March, 16th-18th).
As mentioned, Eggers & Franke confirmed itself as the leader company also this year: with a turnover of 368 million euros (+1.4% compared to 2023), the supplier with headquarters in Brema generates 80% of its business in Great Organized Distribution, while the remaining 20% comes from out-of-home. “Our portfolio is very well-balanced, and had positive performances compared to the category – said the general director Jens Gardthausen – and Primitivo continues to grow”, going to confirm that the best performances come from Southern Italy with Puglia, Molise, and the Abruzzi leading.
Also the second place remained unchanged, and Mack & Schühle oversees it with a turnover of 200 million euros with the precious contribution also of foreign branches in Italy, and in the Usa. A growth which is attributed to the continuous investments in on-trade sector and to the acquisition of strong brands in the portfolio by the German magazine: among these “Novantaceppi”, “Oleada”, “La Vieille Ferme”, and “Apothic”.
Third place on the podium for Hawesko Holding with the subsidiary Wein Wolf which, however, registered a slight drop in 2024. It remains the greatest reseller of wines in Germany with 660 million euros of turnover, but its business-to-business segment generated 198 million of euros by itself, the only relevant for the report. “We lost a little bit considering the volume, but we have been capable of continuing our premiumization strategy constantly, and increasing our average prices”, said Philipp Gericke, ceo of Wein Wolf. Schenk is fourth, whose earning increased by 5.56% to 74 million of euros, and the number of sold bottles increased to 25.5 million (+6% compared to 2023), mainly (90%) in Gdo. The portfolio is mainly Italian (53%), but, in the catalog, also Greek, Spanish, French, and Portoguese wines are present.
Schlumberger Group didn’t supply detailed data, but Meininger’s estimated a moderate drop by 3% compared to the last year: this make the supplier with headquarters in Meckenheim fifth in the classification with a turnover of 68 million of euros, dropping compared to 70 million of euros in 2023. “2024 has been a busy year, and we had to adapt to ensure a safe growth in 2025”, explained the general director Rudolf Knickenberg.
On the contrary, Saffer Wein bounces to sixth place, the German supplier “specialist of Italian wines” in the year of the anniversary No. 100 since the foundation. Also in this case, there is no precise data, but Meininger’s estimated a turnover in 2024 equal to 46 million euros (in 2023, a turnover of 44 million euros was communicated, ed) taking advantage also of the declines of direct competitors. “Primitivo remains for us the leader vineyard among red wines – underlined ceo Andrea Saffer – while, regarding white wines, Northern Italy goes very well, particularly Trentino”.
Peter Riegel ranks No. 7 registering a slight drop both in volume and value (in 2024, the earnings decreased by 2.4% at 44.4 million euros), while Weinkontor Freund (newcomer in the top 10) is ranked No. 8, Global Wine No. 9 (which slightly increased the sales from 35.9 to 36.4 million of bottles, but the policy of careful prices brought to a significant loss of turnover), and Herzberger is No. 10, which managed to increase its turnover by 25% to 30 million euros, obtained despite a lower volume of sales of bottles (4.5 million in 2024 compared to 5 million of the previous year). In the end, among the observed trends, the growing market of no-alcohol drinks and Ready to drink (Rtd) with red wine which underwent significant losses compared to white wine last year, while rosé wine remained relatively stable.