Wine and large-scale distribution in Italy: in the first 6 months of 2022 sales down for still wines (-6.9%) and sparkling wines (-8.4%)

Slightly improve compared to the first 4 months of the year, but the trend in the sale of wine in the Italian large-scale retail trade remains clearly negative. Where the rise in production costs has also begun to be felt and, consequently, the increase in price lists. If until April 2022, as we told you, the decrease had been -10.7% in value and -11% in volume over the same period of 2021, the data at the halfway point of mid 2022 show, for the category of still wines, -6.9% in value over the first half of last year (1.09 billion euros) and -8.4% in volume (to 347 million liters). And sparkling wines and Champagne are struggling even more, down by -8.4% in value (280 million euros) and -9.4% in volume (42.4 million hectoliters). To say the IRI data, relating to the period January-June 2022, analyzed by WineNews, which continue to testify to what all operators expected, a physiological decline in wine sales in supermarkets, hypermarkets, small self-service and discount stores, after the boom fueled by the lock-down periods, and the fairly robust and consolidated recovery in out-of-home consumption. From the data, however, a decrease emerges, at least in volume, and all attributable to still wines, even compared to 2019, a year often taken as a “real” reference because it was last before the pandemic. Overall, in fact, wines and sparkling wines, in the first half of 2022 over the same period of 2019, recorded a + 1.5% of sales, but with still wine (which represented the vast majority of the market) at -1.2%, against a + 30.5% of sparkling wines. It should be noted, again looking at the IRI data, that the effect of inflation and the rise in the prices of raw materials, energy and transport has begun to be felt as expected, as the price index seems to show, which since April, from today it has always remained above 100 points, with peaks of even 115 points for still wine in 0.75 liter bottles, and 107 for bubbles. With a second half of the year, all to be written.