Certified sustainable wines drive only 6% of consumer choice in Italian shopping carts

Certified sustainability has, without a doubt, fundamental importance for wine, primarily, on International markets, where those that have a monopoly are in the lead (Northern European, or Canada, for example). Moreover, certificates and sustainable brands are the preferential access lane, as well as a necessary condition to get on the shelves in certain Countries. On the other hand, the guarantee of sustainability still weighs very little with respect to sensorial qualities, origin and brand in the choice of wines to drink at home that Italians buy in mass retail channels (the channel that moves most of the volume, at a value over 3 billion euros in 2021, according to IRI data). These are the results of the WineNews analysis on the ISMEA, study, “Impact of inflation on Italian consumption”, conducted on a sample of 3.000 families, and supported by Nielsen.
Analyzing the drivers of consumer choices, when it comes to choosing a wine, the most important factor, according to consumers, is the origin of the raw material (40%), ahead of sensorial qualities (39%), and brand (16%), while the guarantee of sustainability accounts for only 6% (less than, for example, for bread, tomato purée and fruit, less than for eggs at 14% and then gradually less for fish, meat, fresh vegetables and milk). These data are, like all results from polls, to be taken for what they are. Nevertheless, they express the distance between narrating wine, where sustainability is the dominant theme today, where the merit goes to the numerous investments companies and institutions that work for a more and more virtuous supply chain have made, and values ​​an important slice of the wine market is looking for.
The study further showed some interesting facts. For instance, sensorial qualities according to the sample, are more important when choosing bread (44%) than wine, or cheeses (39%). Instead, the criterion of the origin of the material is overwhelming and weighs more than 60% as a driver of choice for eggs, extra virgin olive oil, meat, fish and vegetables. The choice of brand weighs more (starting at 20% and upwards) for pasta, frozen foods, tomato purée and milk. These are the criteria that actually determine what ends up in the shopping carts of Italian consumers, and therefore those who produce wine and food must absolutely take these data into account.