Prosecco Docg, 2022 record-breaking, toward 104 million bottles sold in Italy and worldwide

The wealth of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG continues to grow across the territory in the glasses all over Italy and the world. Therefore, the territory of the Prosecco hills is increasingly attractive on an International level, but it also knows how to put a generational change in motion, which instead in many other Italian wine territories as well as across the world represents a very critical issue. This is the portrait of the historic territory where Prosecco was born, as stated in the “Annual Economic Report 2022”, edited by Eugenio Pomarici of CIRVE - Interdepartmental Center for Research in Viticulture and Oenology, for the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Consortium, chaired by Elvira Bortolomiol, and directed by Diego Tomasi. The Consortium brings together 209 sparkling wine houses, 431 winemakers and 3.351 families of winemakers. The portrait, translated into numbers means 104 million bottles of Prosecco DOCG sold in 2022, which is almost over. The value should therefore be more than the 588 million euros achieved in 2021, at 100 million bottles, between the 15 municipalities of the denomination: Conegliano, San Vendemiano, Colle Umberto, Vittorio Veneto, Tarzo, Cison di Valmarino, San Pietro di Feletto, Refrontolo, Susegana, Pieve di Soligo, Farra di Soligo, Follina, Miane, Vidor and Valdobbiadene.
“The 2022 analysis has confirmed how, for sixty years, a community of producers has been committed to improving a product of great finesse, expressing a variety of sensory expressions, has been able to reorganize its activities, adapting them to the "new normality" that was established precisely in 2021”, the president Elvira Bortolomiol, said. “And the report also documents which structural situation, wealth of skills and wealth of market relations the Denomination is moving towards to embark on new growth paths, oriented towards value and sustainability — two key words to confront the future”. “Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is a mature product that boasts and expresses its value on the market thanks to the uniqueness of its terroir”, Diego Tomasi, director of the Consortium, commented. “In addition to the genuineness of the vine, our territory is starting to express its potential as a tourist attraction. As a matter of fact, over the first 7 months of 2022”, he added, “arrivals and visitors to Conegliano Valdobbiadene have grown +61.8% and +31%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2021”.
On the market level, the domestic market still holds the largest share of bottles sold. In 2021, there were a total of 59.5 million bottles sold for a value of 363.8 million euros. The breakdown, by Nielsen area, continues to see the Northeast as the main destination and in the lead, carrying 40.3% of the product, followed by the Northwest, at 30.4%, the Center at 18.1% and the South and Islands at 11.2%. The return to life-style models close to the pre-Pandemic ones, was above all achieved in the second half of 2021, and has led to growth in sales of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore sparkling wines on the topmost channels. The main purchasing centers are steadfast, and hold a volume share of 46.3%. The HORECA channel (restaurants, hotels and catering), and the wine bar sector stand at 25.8%, while wholesalers have reached 18.7%. Direct sales shares are growing as well (+28.4% in volume and +30.7% in value), as a result of the recovery of wine tourism activities. We must also emphasize that in 2021, there were more than 350.000 visitors to the wineries, marking + 42.4% increase compared to 2020. The merit of this situation belongs to the significant commitment of the companies, and the UNESCO recognition of the Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene as a World Heritage Site, contributing to the notoriety and prestige of the Denomination area. Finally, the growth of the online channel has been confirmed and has registered an increase in sales — 40% in volume and 53% in value — thereby continuing the path of development that started in 2020. It now appears structural and the tendency is to specialize in particularly prestigious bottles.
Furthermore, in terms of exports, shipments in 2021 reached a value of 224.8 million euros and a volume of 41.3 million bottles, registering + 8.9% in value and +11.4% in volume, highlighting strengthening the Denomination's position on traditional destinations. The United Kingdom has been confirmed the number one export destination for Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG in volume (9.6 million bottles) and in value (50.2 million euros), registering +18.2% and +7.5% growth, respectively. Exports to Germany have also grown, and have registered 7.6 million bottles, or +10.5%, for a value of 47.3 million euros, or +10.4% increase, compared to 2020. Switzerland has been confirmed a fundamental market, and the third importer of the Denomination, registering 6.2 million bottles increasing volumes + 9.2% and 31.3 million euros increasing value + 8.8%. Furthermore, in Europe, we have noted double-digit growth in sales in the Scandinavian peninsula, at 1.5 million bottles reaching +63.8% increase in volume, corresponding to 9 million euros or +72.4%, in value. Overseas, the United States market continued to grow, +43.5% in volume and +40.6% in value. The Brazilian market also grew, registering 45.6% increase in volume and 34.1% in value, and finally, Australia and New Zealand, which registered +13.4% a increase in bottle sales for a value that grew + 17.4%.
The generational turnover is growing as well. The end of 2021 photo sees young people representing 37.2% of the total number of employees, equal to 1.260 young people, compared to +20.7% the previous year. Female youth employment shows positive growth, at 501 employees equal to +31.2% more compared to 2020. In addition, the sparkling wine houses have also grown. In 2021, the number grew to 209, which is 6% more compared to 2020 and 12% more compared to 2018. These numbers represent a wine district that is continuing its extraordinary growth, based on rock solid economic and social foundations.