Wine sales at Delhaize Belgium increased by 5% in 2022 compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the retailer has revealed.
The retailer believes that this growth is 'remarkable' considering the loss of purchasing power among many consumers due to the continuing inflationary situation.
Pieter-Jan Cuyvers, wine category manager at Delhaize, said, "It seems that people are partly sticking to the habits they acquired during the corona crisis when they were obliged to buy wine in the supermarket.
"A whole section of consumers also discovered during that period how many delicious wines can be found in our stores and found that they can therefore also enjoy such a premium product at home. Finally, inflation led to fewer restaurant visits, which again plays in favour of home consumption."
Sales of wine in supermarkets gained prominence during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, while in 2022 consumers returned to restaurants and cafes, leading to what was expected to be a decline in home consumption.
This year, Delhaize expects consumers to buy the same volumes of wine as in 2022 and look for promotional offers and good deals.
Price Control
Delhaize Belgium was able to keep the price of its own bottled wines under control, limiting the price increase to 2% in a market where wine prices increased on average by 4%.
"The crisis made itself feel remarkably less hard on our own bottled wines than on wines from the major brands," Cuyvers added.
"In part, this is due to the good harvest of a whole range of grape varieties, which made the price per litre cheaper. And since we transport our wines in bulk and then bottle them in our own bottling plant, we were able to take full advantage of that lower price per litre."
In addition, the company's long-term agreements with winemakers around the world ensured that the impact of short-term inflation was not passed on to consumers.
Other Trends
The retailer saw bag-in-box wine sales increase by 5% last year as consumers cut down on expenses.
Cuyvers explained, "A lot of people had to be very conscious of their household budget last year, and then the low price per litre of the wines sold in this packaging and the longer shelf life are a real plus."
The sale of wine in pouches increased 20% last year, to 500,000 units, the company noted.
"For the consumer, they come in a handy volume of 1.5l, the price per litre is lower and the shelf life is a lot longer than with bottled wine because of the vacuum system," Cuyvers stated.
Increased demand for overseas wines from countries, such as Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and America, was another popular trend in 2022.
Currently, Delhaize Belgium has a 46% market share in this category, which means that almost one in two overseas wines in Belgium is bought from Delhaize.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest drinks news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
