Webinar: Global Wine Market - Statistics, Trends, and Outlook

Join our live webinar to get insights into the global wine market.

Hey everybody!

We are hosting a 40-minute live webinar on the wine market.

Join us to get the main macroeconomic statistics around the production and trade, and talk over the challenges of coronavirus and the nearest future of the market.

We invite speakers from the industry to share their thoughts on how they are going through this difficult time.

Listen to stories from entrepreneurs from around the world and share yours!

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a notable transformation of markets in the EU, in particular the wine market. The pandemic affects various market parameters: macroeconomic performance, sales channels, supply chains, consumer behavior, and prices.

Despite favorable weather conditions, the EU's grape harvest remained below average in 2020 as producer associations and national governments limited production to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the wine market. Preliminary data shows that despite improving performance in the second half of 2020, overall a slight decline could be expected in terms of the annual wine production in the EU.

Inventory management problems and the state of traditional distribution channels represent a great uncertainty in the current market environment. According to available estimates, about 30% of the wine market in volume terms and 50% in value is accounted for by the HoReCa segment (hotels, restaurants, cafes), which were most affected by counter-pandemic measures. The situation was aggravated by the closure of borders, which led to an unprecedented reduction in tourism, the role of which in the GDP of the main wine-producing countries was quite large.

Significant volumes of wine are sold in specialized stores, which were also closed during the quarantine period. Although the growth in wine consumption in the supermarket sector increased slightly, it did not compensate for the decline in other sales channels. Reduced demand for wine has worsened the position of distributors and importers in foreign countries, exacerbating the negative impact of the pandemic on the European wine industry.

With the easing of quarantine restrictions, the demand situation should have improved slightly, but in general, it is expected that a full recovery of export supplies and the work of the HoReCa sector in importing countries will take a long time. In addition, consumer incomes have declined in many countries due to the crisis, exacerbating price competition.