PRICE OF GRAPES SOARS. “IT IS NECESSARY TO REVIEW PRICE LISTS”. THE DECISION MADE BY THE ITALIAN WINE UNION (UIV). PRICE HIKES OF 20-25% EXPECTED FOR BASE WINES, AND 10% FOR HIGH END WINES

The record increases in the cost of grapes for the 2007 harvest has made it necessary to review all price lists in the sector, from transformation to bottling. This is the conclusion made during the latest assembly of the bottling union under the Italian Wine Union (UIV).

“Soon, increases of about 20-25% for base wines and 10% for high-end wines will be occurring. It is the consequence of the 2007 grape harvest that, with barely 40 million hectoliters of wine produced, will be remembered as the scarcest year recorded over the past 60 years. The price of grapes has sky-rocketed in all regions, with a 20-30% increase for base wines and 100% for the most requested wines on the market. This general price increase also involves other sectors, from transformation to bottling, who will find it impossible to keep their prices unchanged”.

“Though it is true that the price of grapes had fallen dramatically in recent years, reaching a point of no return and lower than which viticuluralists would have been producing a loss” – explained the union – “it is also undeniable that, today, it has reached the exact opposite in some cases, with increases at times unjustifiable and that include, indiscriminately, all of the areas of production and all of the types of product. And, with this, 5 years have passed since market wine prices have been touched, regardless of the fact that the transformation and bottling sector has had to support cost increases for production, energy and transportation”.

Given these concurrent factors, and after a detailed recognition of the situation region by region, the bottling union has decided on an immediate review to increase wine list prices: “to avert a repeat of similar situations in the future it is fundamental that the production sector and that of transformation-bottling reach an agreed upon program for prices, at least for the next five years, to avoid price see-sawing and the difficulty of understanding it, and, for bottlers, communicating with the market”.