The research conducted by Axier-Confcommercio-Unicab for Vinitaly found some interesting facts based on a survey of about 600 people that confirmed the expected result that older Italians still drink wine regularly with the study indicating that 69% Italians over the age of 65 years drink wine every day.
Giovanni Brunetti of Unicab ascribes the phenomenon of declining consumption to the social evolution in Italy. Italian families have become more and more fragmented during the last decade. They don’t eat meals together anymore and wine is no longer considered a form of food or nutrition. The research also shows that 30% of Italians do not consider wine to be a symbol of Italian gastronomy anymore. The high rate of unemployment also keeps the Italians away from wine to some extent and attracts them to other cheaper forms of alcohol.
The cost of wine has thus played a part in the drop in consumption. Nearly half of the Italian population (48.8%) spends less than €3 on liter of wine for everyday quaffable wine while 30% spend between €3 and 10. “A price issue”, comments Lucio Mastroberardino, president of the UIV (Italian Wine Association), “because of the price factor,young people who cannot afford a wine bottle, opt for other alcoholic ones”.
Over a third of wine in Italy is now being sold through the supermarkets, which are gradually introducing in-store educational schemes, such as touch-screen terminals. One may often find wine experts on hand in the supermarket aisles helping the customers with proper wine selection. But as Paul Arena, president of Confcommercio Verona claims, there is usually no one to explain the value of a particular wine and this could be one of the major reasons for the loss of competitiveness.
However, 70% of Italians still believe that Italian wines are a symbol of excellence. The research also showed that nearly half of the 22% of Italians who have reduced their wine consumption in the last two years have done so for health reasons.
The findings were revealed at Vinitaly, in Verona earlier this month. Unicab concluded by outlining strategies to win back Italian wine drinkers. The researchers feel that the producers need to focus and work harder at the age group of 40-60 years to increase the sales. There is also a growing need for information dissemination at various levels of the market segment. More investment in communication and advertising are necessary to keep the brand image, finds the survey.
The 46th edition of Vinitaly will be held on 25-28 March 2012 followed by the 47th edition on 7-10 April, 2013. |