Brits are now buying four times as much Prosecco as Champagne, with demand for the affordable fizz showing no signs of dropping off.
Consumers spent £338.6m on 49.8 million bottles of the sparkling wine in the year to July - a year-on-year increase of £141.9m (72.1%) and 21.9 million bottles (78.8%) according to IRI data [52 w/e 18 July 2015].
Champagne sold 13.1 million bottles - 50,000 fewer than the year before - although a rise in average price helped push value sales up 1.2% to £250m.
“Prosecco is a fashionable drink that provides a cheaper and excellent quality alternative to Champagne,” said Toby Magill, head of BWS insights at IRI. “It’s no wonder it now outpaces Champagne in value and volume and is being chosen above Champagne at weddings. It’s quickly becoming the nation’s summer drink of choice.
“Champagne brands will need to focus on helping shoppers see the value of their premium brands if they want to fend off the advances of their popular Prosecco cousins as they move into the premium end of the sparkling wine category.”
Despite Champagne’s tepid performance, the leading brands are doing well. The top three - Moët & Chandon, Lanson and Veuve Clicquot, which all sell for a higher price than the category average - are in value and volume growth [Nielsen 52 w/e 25 April 2015]. However, Lanson has now been overtaken as the second biggest-selling sparkling wine brand by Prosecco brand Valdo, which grew 72.6% to £30.7m on volumes up 88.9%.
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