Argentina Leads Importers in Recession
Argentina is one of the few importers in the United States that isn’t hurting. In fact, some Argentinean winemakers claim the recession is actually helping their wines grow in the U.S.
An article in Reuters sights several winemakers who are confident the country’s exports will keep growing next year, mainly because the price tier where they are most competitive, $15 and below, is growing. The increasing trend of consumers purchasing wines off-premise and drinking at home has also helped.
"Instead of going to a restaurant and ordering $30 bottles, people are getting together at home and drinking $15 bottles of wines and we're very competitive in that range," said Juan Carlos Pina, manager of a trade group of Argentine vineyards.
Guillermo Daniel Garcia, president of the state-run National Institute of Wine Production, said the country will “probably see lower levels of growth” in the 2009, but believes “there are some good signs.”
The article suggests all New World countries, such as Chile, Australia, South African and the U.S., are performing much better in the unstable economy than Old World wines like France, Italy and Spain.
In order to check up on wine imports, we took a quick peek at Nielsen’s food, drug and liquor data for November 15, 2008. It’s well documented that imports as a whole have lost share during the recession, with dollar share down -1.2 points in the four weeks to November. Domestics, meanwhile, gained 1.2 share points.
In the four week period, Argentinean imports showed the most growth, gaining 30.6% in dollar sales and 0.3 market share points. Its neighbor, Chile, grew 13.5% in sales and gained 0.2 share points. New Zealand, another New World producer posting growth, was up 14.4% in dollar value and gained 0.1 share points. Australia, lastly, declined -3.9% in dollar sales and lost -0.6 share points. Droughts, gluts, undersupply, oversupply, strong Aussie dollar and a drop in demand are all reasons Australian exporters are seeing a slowdown in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the two main European “Old World” wine producers, Italy and France, also lost share in the month to November. Dollar sales of French wine were down a whopping -15.1%, and the country lost as much as much share as Australia (-0.6 points). Italy declined -2.4% in dollar value and lost -0.5% market share points. The strong Euro versus the weak USD makes Old World wines expensive, particularly from well known regions. Industry insiders have also blamed a lack of modern advertising on the part of Old World countries and confusing wine labels for softness in the U.S.
European wine countries that performed better include Germany, Portugal and most notably Spain. While they were all flat in market share, dollar sales of Spanish wine grew 2.9%, followed by Portugal (1.7%) and Germany (0.9%).
WINES BELOW $6 GAIN SHARE
It’s true that consumers are increasingly purchasing less expensive wine, and as one of my readers recently said via email, who would have thought consumers would be trading down a year ago? We certainly didn’t. The price category that gained the most share in the four weeks to November 15 was $3-$5.99, which gained 1.5 share points, according to Nielsen. Value wines below $3 gained 0.5 share points. And finally, wines in the $9-$11.99 category were flat, which is this economy is good news.
Wines priced $6-$8.99, meanwhile, lost a share point, and wines priced above $15 lost -0.8 market share points. In the price tier below, $12-$14.99, 0.2 share points were lost.
Volume wise, all price categories lost market share besides the $3-$5.99 range and below $2.99, which gained 1.1 share points and 0.1 points, respectively. The category that lost the most volume share, $6-$8.99, was down 0.9 market share points. Every other price category declined -0.1 market share points.
The category that took the biggest hit was definitely the $6-$8.99 which lost the most share in terms of dollar sales and volume. Meanwhile, wines priced $3-$5.99 gained the most dollar and volume share.
It looks like consumers that typically purchase wines above $12 were trading down to premium wines, $9-$12. Also, consumer groups that traditionally buy wines priced $6-$9 were trading down to wines below $6, particularly in the $3-$5.99 range.
WSD BRIEFS:
PERNOD RICARD SPENT 185K in the third quarter to lobby the U.S. government on trade, trademark issues and other matters, reports the AP according to a recent disclosure form. Pernod is still fighting Bacardi over the trademark for Havana Club, which the French company is not allowed to sell in the U.S. because of its ties to Cuba. Instead, Bacardi sells Havana in the U.S.
NEW YORK GOV. DAVID PATERSON’S PROPOSED $121 billion budget would allow grocery stores to sell wine, but it would also increase taxes on beer and wine, along with many other things (such as limo rides and I-Tunes). Paterson’s budget plan will be reviewed by state lawmakers for approval, so stay tuned...
THE NIELSEN COMPANY has signed a new, long-term contract with Constellation Brands to track Constellation’s wine and spirits products and provide access to Nielsen’s database of more than 700,000 U.S. retail and on-premise locations.
Until tomorrow, Megan
“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”
Mark Twain
--------- Sell Day Calendar ----------
Today's Sell Day: 13
Sell days this month: 22
Sell days this month last year: 20
This month ends on a: Wed.
This month last year ended on a: Mon.
YTD sell days Over/Under: +1
BEER SUMMIT 2009 - The Four Seasons, Austin, Texas - Join us for great speakers, intelligent discourse, good food, and of course great beer at the next Beer Summit on March 1 - 2, 2009. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/beersummit
WINE & SPIRITS DAILY
Subscribe or check back issues at: www.winespiritsdaily.com
Send news and comments in confidence to: megan@winespiritsdaily.com
© 2008 Wine & Spirits Daily, all rights reserved. May quote with attribution.
An article in Reuters sights several winemakers who are confident the country’s exports will keep growing next year, mainly because the price tier where they are most competitive, $15 and below, is growing. The increasing trend of consumers purchasing wines off-premise and drinking at home has also helped.
"Instead of going to a restaurant and ordering $30 bottles, people are getting together at home and drinking $15 bottles of wines and we're very competitive in that range," said Juan Carlos Pina, manager of a trade group of Argentine vineyards.
Guillermo Daniel Garcia, president of the state-run National Institute of Wine Production, said the country will “probably see lower levels of growth” in the 2009, but believes “there are some good signs.”
The article suggests all New World countries, such as Chile, Australia, South African and the U.S., are performing much better in the unstable economy than Old World wines like France, Italy and Spain.
In order to check up on wine imports, we took a quick peek at Nielsen’s food, drug and liquor data for November 15, 2008. It’s well documented that imports as a whole have lost share during the recession, with dollar share down -1.2 points in the four weeks to November. Domestics, meanwhile, gained 1.2 share points.
In the four week period, Argentinean imports showed the most growth, gaining 30.6% in dollar sales and 0.3 market share points. Its neighbor, Chile, grew 13.5% in sales and gained 0.2 share points. New Zealand, another New World producer posting growth, was up 14.4% in dollar value and gained 0.1 share points. Australia, lastly, declined -3.9% in dollar sales and lost -0.6 share points. Droughts, gluts, undersupply, oversupply, strong Aussie dollar and a drop in demand are all reasons Australian exporters are seeing a slowdown in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the two main European “Old World” wine producers, Italy and France, also lost share in the month to November. Dollar sales of French wine were down a whopping -15.1%, and the country lost as much as much share as Australia (-0.6 points). Italy declined -2.4% in dollar value and lost -0.5% market share points. The strong Euro versus the weak USD makes Old World wines expensive, particularly from well known regions. Industry insiders have also blamed a lack of modern advertising on the part of Old World countries and confusing wine labels for softness in the U.S.
European wine countries that performed better include Germany, Portugal and most notably Spain. While they were all flat in market share, dollar sales of Spanish wine grew 2.9%, followed by Portugal (1.7%) and Germany (0.9%).
WINES BELOW $6 GAIN SHARE
It’s true that consumers are increasingly purchasing less expensive wine, and as one of my readers recently said via email, who would have thought consumers would be trading down a year ago? We certainly didn’t. The price category that gained the most share in the four weeks to November 15 was $3-$5.99, which gained 1.5 share points, according to Nielsen. Value wines below $3 gained 0.5 share points. And finally, wines in the $9-$11.99 category were flat, which is this economy is good news.
Wines priced $6-$8.99, meanwhile, lost a share point, and wines priced above $15 lost -0.8 market share points. In the price tier below, $12-$14.99, 0.2 share points were lost.
Volume wise, all price categories lost market share besides the $3-$5.99 range and below $2.99, which gained 1.1 share points and 0.1 points, respectively. The category that lost the most volume share, $6-$8.99, was down 0.9 market share points. Every other price category declined -0.1 market share points.
The category that took the biggest hit was definitely the $6-$8.99 which lost the most share in terms of dollar sales and volume. Meanwhile, wines priced $3-$5.99 gained the most dollar and volume share.
It looks like consumers that typically purchase wines above $12 were trading down to premium wines, $9-$12. Also, consumer groups that traditionally buy wines priced $6-$9 were trading down to wines below $6, particularly in the $3-$5.99 range.
WSD BRIEFS:
PERNOD RICARD SPENT 185K in the third quarter to lobby the U.S. government on trade, trademark issues and other matters, reports the AP according to a recent disclosure form. Pernod is still fighting Bacardi over the trademark for Havana Club, which the French company is not allowed to sell in the U.S. because of its ties to Cuba. Instead, Bacardi sells Havana in the U.S.
NEW YORK GOV. DAVID PATERSON’S PROPOSED $121 billion budget would allow grocery stores to sell wine, but it would also increase taxes on beer and wine, along with many other things (such as limo rides and I-Tunes). Paterson’s budget plan will be reviewed by state lawmakers for approval, so stay tuned...
THE NIELSEN COMPANY has signed a new, long-term contract with Constellation Brands to track Constellation’s wine and spirits products and provide access to Nielsen’s database of more than 700,000 U.S. retail and on-premise locations.
Until tomorrow, Megan
“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”
Mark Twain
--------- Sell Day Calendar ----------
Today's Sell Day: 13
Sell days this month: 22
Sell days this month last year: 20
This month ends on a: Wed.
This month last year ended on a: Mon.
YTD sell days Over/Under: +1
BEER SUMMIT 2009 - The Four Seasons, Austin, Texas - Join us for great speakers, intelligent discourse, good food, and of course great beer at the next Beer Summit on March 1 - 2, 2009. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/beersummit
WINE & SPIRITS DAILY
Subscribe or check back issues at: www.winespiritsdaily.com
Send news and comments in confidence to: megan@winespiritsdaily.com
© 2008 Wine & Spirits Daily, all rights reserved. May quote with attribution.
posted at 12:53 PM
<< Home