The pandemic has had a significant impact on the wine and beverage industry .
As we have also seen for other sectors covered by this section , the restrictions have led to a contraction of life outside the home beverage sector and a drastic reduction in social interactions, thus interrupting moments of sharing such as Aperitifs and dinners outside the home. Added to this is the Decrease in tourism and consumption in the Horeca (Hotel-Restaurant-Café) sector.
The decline in wine and spirits consumption is partly due to these trends.
According to the Nomisma study italy phone number data commissioned by Assobibe (the Italian association of Confindustria that brings together producers of soft beverage sector drinks and spirits), in 2020, the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages fell by -8.4%, while spirits fell by -8.3%, significantly impacting the 3,300 companies that are part of the sector. Consumption in restaurants and public establishments lost an average of 250 million euros per month.
In particular, in the hospitality sector, the COVID-19 emergency caused a loss of 34.4 billion euros in 2020, a decrease of -35% compare beverage sector to 2019. But the most impressive figure is the balance between companies born and companies that ceased during the pandemic, which corresponds to -13,060.
Increase in e-commerce sales in the wine market
According to the joint report choose a simple and clear name of the SACE Research Department, the Mediobanca Research Area and Ipsos on the Italian wine and spirits sector (based on beverage sector the analysis of the Italian and international markets and the study of socio-cultural consumption dynamics), the data indicate that the main Italian wine beverage sector producers closed 2020 with a 4.1% drop in turnover; in particular, -6.3% for the domestic market and -1.9% for the foreign market.
In particular, sparkling wines, generally phone number vietnam the most used for cocktails and aperitifs, lost more ground (-6.7%) than still wines (-3.5%).
As for purchasing channels , the large-scale distribution sector saw an increase of 2.3%, going from an incidence of 35.3% in 2019 to 38% in 2020, while the hospitality sector lost 32.7%, going from 17.9% to 13.4%. Wine bars and wine bars did a little better, but they suffered a loss of 21.5%: they went from 7% to 6.7%.
As you can imagine, however, e-commerce was the channel that saw a real explosion in sales:
- +74.9% in own funds;
- +435% on dedicated online platforms;
- +747% on general marketplaces.
Before the lockdown, 71% of Italians had never beverage sector purchase online from winery websites and 74% had never purchased from a wine merchant’s e-commerce, while today these shares have fallen to 64% and 69% respectively.
This trend led to a 55.8% increase in digital investments by major wine producers in 2020, compared to a 13.4% decline in ad spend and a 14.3% decline in overall investments.
New consumer trends for 2021 in the wine sector
Also according to the report by SACE, Mediobanca and Ipsos, in 2021 the largest wine producers in Italy expect the sector to grow by 3.5%, which could reach 4.6% for exports. On the other hand, as regards the spirits sector , sales are expected to grow by 5.4% (slightly lower for exports, with an increase of 4%).
Large-scale distribution remains the preferred channel for buying wine, but the propensity to buy in supermarkets has fallen , from 58% before COVID to 52% currently. Italian consumers, in fact, are now showing greater attention to the search for quality wine, trying to select unique bottles with specific characteristics.
This new consumption habit introduced by the pandemic is confirmed by another trend: the number of Italians who turn to wine merchants, cellars or specialized stores to buy wine increases by 6%. It is especially women who see the percentage of those who have never turned to a wine merchant to buy a bottle of wine decrease, from 52% before the pandemic emergency to 44% in 2021. This new consumption trend in the wine sector has also affected other segments of society, also affecting young people of different age groups (Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers).