After 16 years of Italian leadership in the US wine market, France is now challenging this position.
This assessment comes from Silvana Ballotta, CEO of Business Strategies, a Florence-based consulting firm specialising in wine exports.
According to data from Business Strategies, the position of market leader in the US is now head-to-head between Italy and France, with the difference in value sales amounting to as little as €8 million.
Data from the first eight months of 2017 confirms Italy’s leadership position, with a value of €1.099 billion compared to France’s €1.091 billion, and market shares of 31.5% and 31.3%, respectively.
Strong Growth
The result is due to a boom in French wine sales over the period (+18.9%), while sales of Italian wines have grown at a slower pace (+4%). Additionally, the average price for French wine during the period was €9.70 per litre, compared to €4.90 for Italian wines.
However, the situation is different in the sparkling wine segment, where Italy has a strong leadership position, with €377 million of sales compared to France's €201 million.
Despite a strong growth in demand for wine during 2017, Ballotta says that Italian exports are up by 7.1%, compared to competitors such as France, Australia and New Zealand, which have all experienced double-digit growth rates.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
