THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
STILL DRINKING AT HOME?
Last month we had a look at the world of wine against the
backdrop of the Covid - 19 pandemic and the economic crisis
that has resulted from it. The early indications were that, far
from the wine industry becoming a victim of the pandemic,
it seemed to be thriving as a result of it. However, we are now
in June, lockdown continues, albeit with some easing, and
nobody really knows how things are going to pan out over
the next few months, or even years. What does the future
really hold for the drinks and wine industry? What do we
know now that, perhaps, we did not know a month or so ago?
Home Consumption
The most recent data suggests that, with the ongoing COVID-19
restrictions, people are still buying more wine online, to
consume from the comfort and safety of their own homes. As
of the week ending 9th May online sales of wine in the US were
up 267% with wine.com (the well-known US online retailer)
apparently seeing a quadrupling of its revenue to more than $1
million a day since the 28th March. Its April revenue alone is
reported to have topped a massive $40 million.
In the UK, recent sales figures also identify a significant rise in
the sale of wine, as well as in beer and spirits, in supermarkets
and off-licences. There are now a number of reports that some
wine retailers and supermarkets are struggling to keep up
with the surge in demand. Online sales of alcohol following
lockdown have also jumped, and continue to surge, following
lockdown.
Boxed Wines
One noticeable fact that has emerged is that global demand
for boxed wine has ‘skyrocketed’ during the current pandemic.
Recent data suggests that such boxes have been the ‘go to’
product in many supermarkets around the world. In the US
sales by March were reported to have gone up by 53%, compared
with the same period the previous year, and in Canada by 77%
(apparently translating to the sale of 47,000 more boxes in one
month). In France sales of boxed wines had gone up by 43% and
in the UK sales have also jumped massively. There has also been
a noticeable increase in the advertising of, and the promotion of,
boxed wines. Such wines have also seen much publicity, in the
press, during recent times. If you are interested in purchasing
boxed wines for delivery to your own home then go online and
do some research – for example try the Daily Mirror website
where you will find their recommendations for the best boxed
wines you can have delivered to your door.
This development is interesting particularly as, historically,
boxed wines have always been seen as the poor relation to
the bottled variety. It seems that such an increase is down to a
number of factors. Firstly, boxed wine typically holds 3 litres or
more, compared to 0.75 litres for a bottle of wine, and is often
cheaper too in terms of cost or price by volume. Secondly it
is now reported that increasing environmental considerations
mean that more and more people are turning to boxed wine
(e.g. the lighter carbon footprint of transporting and packaging
boxes compared to glass bottles). Thirdly, it now seems that the
quality of boxed wines is much better, in some instances, than it
has historically been (i.e. better wine is now being produced by
winemakers and placed into a box, rather than a bottle).
The Reality Check
Despite all this and the surge in both the demand for, and the
consumption of, wine at home, what is the true reality for both
the wine world and the general drinks trade in the world as we
know it today?
The most recent research indicates that, despite our huge
increase in consumption of wine at home, the wine business as
a whole has been badly hit by the current Covid - 19 pandemic.
Whilst there has been a huge rise in home drinking, this alone
has not, and will not in the future, come anywhere near making
up the shortfall in wine and alcohol sales around the world. The
reasons why seem pretty clear. Most UK wine importers supply
both the on and off trade, with many specialist wine merchants
doubling up as restaurant suppliers or as wine bars. Add to this
that previously much wine was sold around the world on the
back of vintage launches, trade fairs and all manner of wine
tastings (normally there would, globally, be many thousands of
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