Canada is falling in love with sparkling wines, and Prosecco accounts for 30% of the market

In Canada, the demand for sparkling wines has increased by 50% in the last five years and is expected to increase by another 30% in the next 5. A long wave, the one analyzed by Wine Intelligence, ridden by Prosecco, capable of superior performance to the average, so much so that if in 2016 only one bottle of sparkling out of five uncorked in Canada was Prosecco, today the bubbles from Veneto and Friuli represent over 30% of the consumption of the category. Much of this question is linked to the growing popularity of sparkling wines, so much so that the number of consumers has registered a + 21% in the last three years, mainly thanks to Millennials. In terms of numbers, since 2019 Canada has registered one million new consumers of sparkling wines, and today 42% of all sparkling lovers fall within the 25-39 age group.
As has happened in many other parts of the world, the consumption of sparkling wines has gone from a formal and purely celebratory context to a decidedly more relaxed and daily environment, and so also in Canada, the consumption opportunities have multiplied exponentially. So that the percentage of Canadians who choose to drink a glass of sparkling wine once a week has gone from 16% in 2019 to 25% in 2022. All conditions have created a fertile ground for Prosecco, which together with the sparkling category rosé shows the highest incidence in the overall consumption of the category. Facilitated, in this, by being associated with both informal social contexts and moments of celebration: 46% of those who drink bubbles consider Prosecco “a good choice to celebrate”, and a similar amount considers it “perfect for a party”.
To make the bubbles “democratic” among Canadian wine lovers were, of course, the prices, and although it has been surpassed by domestic production and sparkling wines from the USA and other nations, more than a third of Canadians still think it is the best option in terms of value for money. Among the factors that influence the time of purchase, the strength of the Prosecco brand (“a brand I know well”) is the most important factor, followed by recommendations from friends and relatives. Among the Millennials, however, in the first place among the reasons that make Prosecco the most popular bubble is precisely its being “fashionable”: no other bubble enjoys such popularity and positive perception among young consumers. And with the growth of consumers of sparkling wines, the future for Prosecco in Canada appears bright, with concerns stemming not so much from competition from other types and territories, but from the economic context, with inflation and the global crisis posing risks also to sparkling wine consumption.