Andreas Brokemper, CEO of the Henkell Group, has forecast strong growth for prosecco in Eastern Europe, with countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic set to enlarge the market.
The Henkell Group is behind the brand Minetto Prosecco. Sales of the product in terms of volume were up last year by 4.2 per cent to 1.37 million cases, though it is thought in excess of two million cases will be shifted annually by the year 2020, with the rise bolstered partially by Eastern Europe.
Brokemper told The Drinks Business that "after a decade of growth in Western Europe for prosecco, we are now facing a decade of growth in Eastern Europe – I am sure this will come.
"The development of Mionetto has been driven by the US and the UK, but the difference between the past and today is that now smaller markets like Poland and the Czech Republic are getting hot on prosecco as well."
Growth in the sparkling wine sector will be supported by "good development of incomes in most of the middle European countries, so people have more money to spend and they are up-trading."
Brokemper also suggested that the global prosecco boom will abate when prices increase in relation to demand.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here
