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Drinks

Irish Wine Distributors Slam 'Draconian' Measures From Government

By Steve Wynne-Jones
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Irish Wine Distributors Slam 'Draconian' Measures From Government

The Irish Wine Association, which represents wine distributors in Ireland, has said that it has 'major concerns' with a new piece of government legislation which could make Ireland an 'unviable' market to export wine to.

The group's chair, Jim Bradley, who is also chairman of Febvre & Company, one of the country’s largest wine distributors, said that the forthcoming Public Health (Alcohol) Bill presents the "most immediate challenge" to the wine industry in Ireland, adding that the group has "major concerns" with proposed measures to introduce a mandatory cancer warning on all alcohol products sold in the Republic of Ireland.

"This draconian measure presents a significant barrier to trade and will likely lead to less choice for consumers," said Bradley.

"Ireland is a relatively small market and wine producers making special accommodations for a legislative requirement such as a cancer warning label make Ireland an unviable market to export to. This measure will especially impact on smaller wine producers selling their specialist boutique wines to the Irish market.”

Bradley also raised concerns over a potential excise increase in the forthcoming Irish Budget. "Irish consumers are already hit with the highest rate of excise on still wine in the EU," he said. "The excise hit for sparkling wine is doubled for consumers without for no reasonable rational basis. This is effectively a tax on our celebrations."

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Consumption Increase

Irish consumers went through a record 9.1 million cases of wine last year, according to the Irish Wine Association's latest annual report, with sales increasing 0.5% last year. This is mainly due to, the report suggests, an increase in consumers' disposable income.

Wine is the second biggest alcoholic beverage in the Irish market, accounting for almost 28% of the market. It is second to beer, which accounts for 45% of the market.

The report states that white wine is the more popular variant in Ireland with half of the market share. Red wine fell by 2%, accounting for approximately 45% of the market.

Rosé consumption increased for the first time in many years, from 3% in 2016 to 5%.

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There has also been an increased preference for ‘new world wines’ from the likes of Chile and Australia, which hold a market share of 27% and 17% respectively.

French and Spanish wines accounted for 12% of the market each, with Italian wines amounting to just under 10% of the market.

© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones and Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

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