Consumer Expenditures Study

Supermarket Spend: Category Spotlight

Wine Consumers of wine through supermarkets are imbibing at a steady pace, but they’re paying more for the privilege. Nielsen data indicates that domestic table wine is the largest segment of the wine category, and sales were up more than 5 percent for the year ending Dec. 22, 2012, down slightly from the two prior years. The next-largest segment is imported table wines, which, while growing, exhibited mostly flat sales. Flavored/refreshment, a small segment of the category, enjoyed the greatest sales gains, 15.5 percent. These wines are often infused with other fruit or floral flavors, such as peach or mango. At a time when consumers are still feeling financially pinched, wine prices were up about 4 percent for the 52 weeks ending July 14, 2013, as reported by IRI. Brands that held prices relatively steady, including the already popular-priced Barefoot (sales up 12.3 percent), Bogle (sales up 19.5 percent), Black Box Wines (sales up 30.4 percent), and Rex Goliath (sales up 11.2 percent), enjoyed sales gains.

“Consumer demand is requiring a more consumer-friendly, engaging atmosphere, whether at grocery retail or wine stores,” says Jayne Portnoy, VP of marketing and brand strategy at Napa Technology, a San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of automated intelligence preservation and dispensing systems. The company recently completed research that indicates that, thanks to on-premise wines-by-the-glass programs, consumers are getting more experimental with wine and demanding retailers to help them by providing educated, helpful staff. Retailers are responding by employing in-store experts and hosting tastings, as well as with inventive ways of keeping consumers on premise, notes Portnoy, including full-service restaurants, tapas bars and wine bars.

Research by Debra Chanil
Analysis by Joan Driggs and Jim Dudlicek

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