Gas, energy and inflation: the bill for Italian wine rises to 1.5 billion euros

It is a flaw of almost 1.5 billion euros, the one caused by gas and energy on Italian wine, one of the healthiest sectors of Made in Italy, which nevertheless find itself forced to raise the alarm, with the main fear that now it concerns, in addition to the escalation of costs, the consumption crisis, in Italy and in the world. According to the Uiv – Vinitaly Observatory survey, carried out in the last week on Italian companies, the surplus of energy costs alone (+425 million euros) and, consequently, of dry raw materials (over 1 billion more for glass, paper, cardboard, cork, aluminum) alone are worth an increase of 83% compared to the budgets of the beginning of 2022. To these are added other increasing items (bulk wine, commercial costs, labor force) which lead to an increase in total costs this year of 28%. the result, according to the survey carried out on a panel representing 30% of the market, seems like a joke for the sector.

The increase in price lists, estimated by the Uiv – Vinitaly Observatory, in the first 9 months of 2022, is 6.6%, a positive figure but insufficient to cover an increase in price that companies have requested in the order of 11%. The equivalent gap is equal to 600 million euros of costs not covered by incomes that Italian wine is forced to sustain in order to remain on the market. The companies in the supply chain are the ones who lose most of all, the largest cluster – but with less contractual force – made up mostly of small businesses that produce, vinify and bottle everything, or almost everything, in their own home. But, with some exceptions, even the wine industry and the world of cooperation are suffering due to a dynamic that particularly penalizes the basic and popular segments of the offer, starting with medium-priced sparkling wines. The impact on the premium range is different, not only because it is able to better absorb changes but also by virtue of a market more willing to accept requests for price increase.

Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), explains that “the survey shows that the current crisis does not spare our sector, which is not energy-intensive but suffers direct consequences in many of its components. What we can do now is to consolidate with a supply chain all the dynamics that can produce a buffer effect to guarantee competitiveness and the market. Producers, industrialists, cooperatives and distributors will therefore have to absorb part of the increases in order not to discharge them completely on consumers and avoid a dangerous depression in consumption”. For his part, the CEO of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese, believes, however, that “it is a duty for Vinitaly to monitor the dynamics of the sector, even more so in a delicate moment like this. What is happening also has a strong impact on wine, but there is the awareness that today’s events, like those of two years ago, represent exogenous and non-structural factors that affect a sector that is still healthy. At wine2wine, an event by VeronaFiere, scheduled for 7-8 November in Verona, we will present, together with Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), a conjunctural study, also with complete forecast estimates for 2022, regarding the market, profitability and balance sheets of the Italian vine.