Vinexpo denies wine facing crisis of confidence
Vinexpo Chief Executive Robert Beynat believes that the wine market remains healthy and has projected volume and value sales growth to 2014 to argue his case.
The figures, released to highlight the forthcoming Vinexpo exhibition which runs from 19th to 23rd June in Bordeaux, show that consumers are likely to continue trading up to higher-priced wines over the next four years although consumption seems likely to grow by only three per cent in volume to 2014.
Furthermore the IWSR-based figures indicate that the wine lake is set to drain from eight per cent over demand in 2009 to six per cent by 2014.
The UK is likely to remain the world’s top importer, with volumes predicted to increase by two per cent to 2014.
Asia and Eastern Europe will be unlikely to match top Western markets in value and volume but the wine market in China is forecast to increase by 31 per cent in value to $6 billion by 2014.
Vinexpo’s Chairman and Managing Director of Baron Philippe de Rothschild Xavier de Eizaguirre denied that some of international drinks companies have lost confidence in wine, explaining the recent spate of offloading of their wine divisions by some of the major multinationals as “looking for quick returns”.
He told online trade news service just-drinks, “Some of them also operate in spirits where they are used to double-digit growth every year. In the wine business it’s a different story”.
