Resilience against duties, and look to new opportunities: 2024 strategies for 2025 of Italian wine

It is difficult to foresee how 2025 will be, from now on, for wine world, but, surely, it is a particularly awaited and monitored year, as understood also by international fairs of the srctor with the “sentiment” of sector operators which fluctuated between trust and caution. Resilience, attentive look to changes, and to opportunities to be seized seem to be, anyway, the trends to be followed for a year on which the evolution of duties question will weigh. A reflection restated in “L’Economia del vino: Strategie, Sfide e Opportunità tra Europa e Competitività” - “Wine economy: Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities between Europe and Competitiveness”, the event, which, in the last days, saw Confagricoltura present, with the presentation of “Rapporto sulla competitività delle regioni del vino” - “Report about the competitiveness of wine regions” No. 3, carried out by Nomisma Wine Monitor in collaboration with UniCredit.
And, if, for Italy, there was a sprint starting for export 2025, leaded anyway by the USA to anticipate duties, making a step behind, at an international level, the sector arrives from a difficult period. As Observatory Wine Monitor explained, after a 2023 which saw world imports of wine reducing by over 5% compared to the previous year, in 2024, the so awaited rebound didn’t occur. Considering the first 12 markets of wine import (whose weight on world exchange overcomes 60%), only four of these registered growths in value imports (the Usa, Canada, China, and Brazil). Italy brought home a positive result (+6% in value), mainly led by Italian sparkling wines (+9%), whose exports account for 30% on the overall cross-border sales of Italian wine. Most merit is attributable to Prosecco whose export increased by 11% in the last year. Therefore, contrarily to France, for Italy, figures talk about a positive 2024.
In the last ten years, Italy stands out as a country in which wine export grew the most among all competitors: +60% against +51% of France, and +33 of New Zealand. Beyond how duty questions will develop, diversify the markets could be a solution: 60% of Italian wine exports, according to Wine Monitor, focus on just 5 countries, with the USA leading 24%. France presents a concentration index (always in the first 5 end markets) of 51% (with a weight of the Usa of 20%), Spain is at 48% (with an incidence of the Usa of 11%).
And, remaining in theme, also regional exports denote high levels of concentration. Only Veneto accounts for 37% of export of national wine, followed by Tuscany and Piedmont with 15% both. Adding Trentino-Alto Adige and Emilia-Romagna, an incidence of 80% is reached.
And, then, there are the new trends to be taken into consideration, including health consciousness. A consumer survey carried out by Nomisma for Report Wine Monitor-Unicredit No. 3 about the competitiveness of wine regions on almost 2,000 wine consumers located in the three Usa states with highest consumption, and, therefore, New York, California, and Florida, lingered on the theme of changes in tasting preferences which, today, sees American consumer pay more attention to quality wines (33% of consumers expressed in that sense), and look for wines of different regions and territories (28%), but also pay more attention to health, for example by purchasing lighter and with lower alcoholic content red wines. Without forgetting “green” aspects particularly considered by younger consumers.
Denis Pantini, responsible Agrifood & Wine Monitor Nomisma highlighted that “resilience demonstrated by Italian wine businesses continued to be put to the test today with duties imposed by Trump, a challenge recalling us how much it is important to diversify more end markets seen that the first five ones focus even 60% of our wine export”.
According to Remo Taricani, Deputy Head of Italy UniCredit, “the photography of Italian wine supply chain by Nomisma survey is about the just occurred year, that of a dynamic and competitive reality. An image which is coherent with the support of UniCredit to sector companies increasing, in 2024, by 11%, with over 220 million euros of new funds. Despite the new scenario of uncertainty, and commercial tension at a global level, we are sure that our bank can continue to play a fundamental role for businesses helping them to bring effective strategies of diversification of end markets forward”.
Massimiliano Giansanti, president Confagricoltura concluded that “farmers are coping, since some time, with important difficulties: from production cost increase to pressures linked to climate. Usa duties add additional uncertainty and financial tension to our sector hitting producers and consumers. Ensure our food safety must be the compass of Europe because our common national safety begins exactly from there”.