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France Threatens Italy’s Domination Of US Wine Market

By Branislav Pekic
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France Threatens Italy’s Domination Of US Wine Market

After 16 years of Italian leadership in the US wine market, France is now challenging this position.

This assessment comes from Silvana Ballotta, CEO of Business Strategies, a Florence-based consulting firm specialising in wine exports.

According to data from Business Strategies, the position of market leader in the US is now head-to-head between Italy and France, with the difference in value sales amounting to as little as €8 million.

Data from the first eight months of 2017 confirms Italy’s leadership position, with a value of €1.099 billion compared to France’s €1.091 billion, and market shares of 31.5% and 31.3%, respectively.

Strong Growth

The result is due to a boom in French wine sales over the period (+18.9%), while sales of Italian wines have grown at a slower pace (+4%). Additionally, the average price for French wine during the period was €9.70 per litre, compared to €4.90 for Italian wines.

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However, the situation is different in the sparkling wine segment, where Italy has a strong leadership position, with €377 million of sales compared to France's €201 million.

Despite a strong growth in demand for wine during 2017, Ballotta says that Italian exports are up by 7.1%, compared to competitors such as France, Australia and New Zealand, which have all experienced double-digit growth rates.

© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine

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