Italian wine holds out in large-scale retail: in the first 9 months 2023, +3.4% in value

Slight improvement in wine sales in Italian large-scale retail in the summer months, bringing the cumulative figure for the first 9 months to 2.1 billion euros, up +3.4%, essentially due to inflation, while volumes record a 3.4% drop, improving from -3.9% in the first 6 months of 2023, as revealed by the Uiv-Ismea Observatory based on Ismea-NielsenIQ. Still wines, mark a 3.9% drop in volume, but also a +2.6% growth in value, while sparkling wines return to the positive side: +0.6% in volume and +6.2% in value, to 455 million euros.

According to the analysis of the Uiv-Ismea Observatory, there remains a cautious attitude of consumers among the shelves, with “defensive” purchases that favor products on promotion or some cheaper types at the expense of others. This is the case of low-cost sparkling wines (“Charmat not Prosecco”, with 25 million liters purchased), which have now surpassed in volume sales even Prosecco Doc (24.8 million, -0.3%) and which are increasingly establishing themselves not only in discount stores, but also in hyper and super channels. Or important appellations such as Chianti Classico (-13.2%), Prosecco Docg (-14.5%), Barbera (-8.2%), which are ceding share to geographical indications or common wines that offer more affordable prices.

Overall, price lists remain high (+7% over the same period 2022), and it is no coincidence that, in general, sales are holding up better where costs are more limited. For example, the analysis notes, the only format to grow among the shelves, for appellation wines as well as for ordinary wines, is plastic and bag-in-box, which on average tick up to a price of 1.8 euros per liter. Among types, in quantity they do slightly better than average (-3.9%) white wines (-3%) and rosé wines (-3.6%), while reds are still struggling (-4.8%). Sparkling wines turn positive (+0.6%), but the growth concerns, in addition to Asti (+4.5%), only the already mentioned “Charmat non Prosecco”, without which even the bubbly sector would pay a -3.6% in volumes.

In the category of Do and Ig wines, still minus signs for the main types: among the top ten, by volume, only Vermentino di Sardegna (+4%), Puglia Igp (+2%) and Cannonau (+3%) are in positive dynamics. Chianti leaves -4.4% on the ground, while Montepulciano d’Abruzzo slightly improves (-6.6% from -14% in March). Nero d’Avola (-12%) is down sharply, as are Salento IGT (-9%), Lambrusco Emiliani (-11%), Bonarde dell’Oltrepò (-15%) and Verdicchio di Jesi (-18.9%). Among the Veneto, Valpolicella at -2% and Bardolino at -3.4%, while Soave closes the first nine months 2023 at +5%. Among the channels, above average is the gap in discount stores, especially for the PDO and PGI segment (-6.8%), a sign that the tensions on the shopping cart are more perceived by consumers.

A weak domestic market - concludes the Uiv-Ismea Observatory - and still high production costs, are not counterbalanced by exports: the Istat data, on the first 7 months of 2023, shows a tendential contraction in both volumes (-1.5%) and values (-1.2%, to 4.45 billion euros). This is also a worsening compared to exports in the first half of the year-which marked -1.4% and -0.4%, respectively-due to difficulties in the non-EU (volumes at -8.5%) not entirely offset by EU demand (+5.4%). Among products, demand for bulk is strong (+13.1%) while both sparkling (-3.2%) and bottled wines (-4.9%) are down, where the strong difficulties of reds (-10%) weigh heavily.