Italy: Inflation shifts wine consumption towards the low end

Inflation still weighs on the sales of Italian wine. Both on the domestic market and on the export front. Indeed, the domestic market, especially in the large-scale retail channel which still covers over 70% of wine sales in Italy, showed a slight improvement in September compared to the previous month. However, performance on foreign markets has worsened even further and is not yet showing signs of a rebound. This is the scenario that emerges from the data of the Ismea Uiv Observatory. A picture from which "defensive" choices still emerge on the part of consumers who prefer lower-end products, indeed they see it as the only option to continue consuming wine. In Italian large-scale retail trade, in the first nine months of the year, sales in volume fell by 3.4% (compared to -3.9% in the first half of the year). In value, the turnover reaches 2.1 billion and only thanks to the high prices does it show an increase of 3.4%. Timid sign of recovery for the sparkling wine category ...