National sales down, export up. Promotion needed

Cibus 2008, the most important Italian fair dedicated to the food and beverage industry, has decided to carry out an exclusive study on 14 macro-categories, wine included. The study considers the structure and the economy of each sector, and ends with a summary of the main quantitative data. The work was carried out by the Centro Studi Cibus, which has gathered informations from several public and private sources. According to the Cibus study the wine industry is the second in Italy by turnover, after the dairy industry, and the first for value in exports (21% of total exports of food and beverage). According to the most recent estimates by Federalimentare, the Italian wine industry turnover calculated in producer prices is 10.9 billion euros. According to Istat the domestic production has fallen to around 44 million hectolitres, touching the absolute minimum in the last thirty years. This quantity is obtained by about 730.000 hectares of vines. The wines with an appellation of origin (in Italy there are 470 Doc, Docg and Igt), represent less than 60% of the total wine production in volume (excluding musts), with peaks of over 80% in northern Italy. The other 40% is represented by simple table wines. The wine export's volume, about 18.2 million hectolitres, gives Italy the world leadership with a 20% quota, ahead of Spain and France. Italy has the second best placement in value after France, with about 3.48 billion euros. Major markets abroad are Germany, United Kingdom, United States, France and Switzerland. The first market in value is the U.S., followed by German and Uk. Wine import's volume in Italy is about 1.7 million hectolitres, with a value of more than 345 million euros. The major suppliers are U.S., Spain and France, followed by Portugal, Germany, Greece and Chile. In Italy table wines' consumption is declining, but the premium wines are growing, with one of the highest per capita consumption of wine. Oiv estimates about 49 litres per capita in Italy, after Luxembourg and France. It is estimated that in Italy 43.7% of the total wine sales is done by supermarkets. The Horeca (hotel, restaurants and catering) does another 20%, while 8,3% by wine shops and wine bars. The wine direct sales detain a 9.4% market share, while other channels cover the remaining 18.7%. The foreign markets are going to offer the Italian wine industry the major growth prospects. Today the export share on the total turnover amounts to over 30%, and is going to further increase in the coming years, thanks to Eastern Europe and the Asian markets. Among the emerging countries the more promising one is Russia, where in the last three years the Italian wine exports have almost tripled in volume. In China and India, instead, the wine exports remain very modest in absolute terms. In the future Italy will have to diversify its export markets, that are now too concentrated (the first five countries detain 70% of the exports), and implement innovative marketing strategies, to intercept the new consumers' tastes and to value the distinctive elements of Italian wine production. On the domestic market producers will have to consolidate the links between winemaking and the territory (enoturism, wine roads…).

(translated and adapted from http://www.winenews.it/index.php?c=detail&id=12754&dc=15&bn=1)

Focus on diversity or build a unitarian image? It's dificult for the Italian wine industry to find an answer to that question. On the national market the great diversity of the wine's appellations is still perceived as a strenght, but abroad it tends to be seen as a weakness. Probably producers will have to build stronger and bigger brands. But do not forget how easy it is for Italians to emphasize what divide each one from the other, instead of what they share.