Bordeaux Index records a 47% sales growth in 2021

The Bordeaux Index has reported sales growth of almost 50% year in 2021, to a company record total of US$174m.

Increased activity in Asia and the US (where trade tariffs on many French wines were suspended in Q1) has been most significant. The Bordeaux Index has also seen pronounced gains in the UK. Their client base also increased by c.30% in 2021.

The strong growth in volumes on the LiveTrade online platform, a trading venue in the market for Bordeaux, Champagne and Italian wines, came as the company prepares for the launch of a new, expanded version of the platform this year, when users from across the wine market will be able to trade the full spectrum of fine wines rather than the core set which LiveTrade has focused on to date.

Gary Boom, Founder and CEO of Bordeaux Index, commented:

“We are delighted to report record-breaking results and indeed such strong progress compared to 2020. While activity in the wine market – just as in other luxury assets and collectibles such as art – has no doubt been high, we believe our outsized growth is a clear vindication of our strategy to improve market access and transparency alongside providing best-in-class product expertise.”

“Looking ahead to 2022, there is certainly room for an optimistic outlook, with the global pool of wine collectors on a different scale to a decade ago, and also investors increasingly looking towards hard assets such as wine which deliver consistently strong performance, capital preservation and protection against inflation.”

“Building on the tremendous growth last year, we have invested in new technology to improve our LiveTrade platform, which we firmly believe will continue to transform the way fine wine is bought and sold globally.”

#bordeaux #bordeauxwine #bordeauxindex #burgundywine #greatwine #grandcru #finewine #winelover #champagne #champagnelover #vintagechampagne #livetrade
#wineinvestment #wineinvestors #wine #vin #frenchwine #madeinfrance

@bordeaux_index

Interest in low and no alcohol sector surges, reaching a record of $10bn in 2021

The demand for no and low alcohol drinks shows no sign of declining across top global markets last year.

According to IWSR’s latest Drinks Market Analysis report, the sector reached a value of nearly US$10bn in 2021. The study further states that in 2021 the no and low-alcohol beer/cider, wine, spirits, and RTD products grew by more than 6% in volume in 10 key global markets, and now has 3.5% volume share of the industry. The low and no alcohol sector is predicted to grow by a further 5.8% between 2021 – 2025, and by 8.5% in value across the same time frame.

Germany is the largest market for low and no alcohol drinks, followed by Spain, the US, Japan and the UK. “Volume of no and low alcohol products in Germany is more than three times that of the next largest no/low market, Spain. Both Germany and Spain clocked volume increases of about +2% in 2021, while the US grew by +31% and the UK by +17%,” says the report, “Total volume of no/low products in Japan registered a small decline (-1%) last year.”

The report went on to say that while Germany and Spain are the biggest and most mature markets for the sector, the UK and the US are two of the most dynamic and growing at a faster rate. In the US, the category is predicted to grow by 28% in volume between 2021 – 2025, and the UK by 6%.

“While January has become a popular month for people to cut back or abstain from alcohol, interest in no and low alcohol drinks has increasingly become a year-round trend among consumers across the world,” said Emily Neill, COO of IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. “To meet that demand, beverage alcohol companies have invested heavily to introduce a number of innovative new products, and many established mainstream brands have recently crossed over to develop no/low alcohol versions of their popular beer, wines, and spirits.”

The report also noted that the no alcohol sector is taking more market share away from traditional brands than low alcohol. Beer and cider is the largest no/low category (at 75% volume share), with no-alcohol beer projected to drive growth at more than 1% over the study’s 2021-2025 forecast period. Meanwhile, no-alcohol RTDs and no alcohol spirits are both expected to post about 14% CAGR volume growth.

The country with the largest proportion of alcohol abstainers is the US, with 23% of no/low drinkers avoiding alcohol completely, while more than half (58%) of no/low consumers report that they choose to switch between no/low and full-strength alcohol products on the same occasion.

While growth of the no-alcohol segment is outpacing that of low-alcohol across the 10 key markets studied, there remains a strong opportunity for low-alcohol products, particularly as the health and wellness trend gains pace across the globe. “As these brands become more visible and well established and the quality improves, there is a real opportunity for growth in low-alcohol.”

#winelovers #wine #winetasting #redwine #whitewine #rosewine #instawine #winetime #winenews #winestagram #winemarketing #digitalmarketing #vin #vinho #vino #lowalcohol
#nonalcoholic #nonalcoholicdrink #noandlow #nolo

Champagne News: Total shipments of Champagne in 2021 rose to 322 million bottles, an increase of 32% over 2020

The Champagne region and houses are celebrating after sales and exports set new records last year even as pandemic lockdowns forced many bars and restaurants to close.

Comité Champagne, a trade association representing over 16,000 winegrowers and 320 Champagne houses, said this week that France exported a record 180 million bottles of Champagne in 2021, an increase of 38% over 2020.

Global sales of Champagne also hit a record €5.5 billion (US$6.2 billion).

Comité Champagne said that total shipments rose 32% over the previous year to 322 million bottles as people found reasons to celebrate at home.

“With tourism and the staging of events still reduced due to the health crisis, there is room to believe that home consumption has taken up the slack,” the trade group said in a statement.

“Consumers have chosen to entertain themselves at home, compensating for the generally gloomy mood with new moments of conviviality and sharing,” they also added.

Detailed export data has not yet been released, but in 2020, the United Kingdom and the United States were the top foreign markets for champagne.

Champagne drinking popped back up to its pre-pandemic levels last year in France, with shipments increasing 25% to reach nearly 142 million bottles.

‘This recovery is a welcome surprise for the people of Champagne after a troubled 2020 (with figures down by 18%) impacted by the closure of main points of consumption and the shortage of celebratory events across the world,’ comments Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat général des vignerons and co-president of the Comité Champagne. He is otherwise pleased to note ‘the healthy state of the national market’.

Jean-Marie Barillère, president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-president of the Comité Champagne, is delighted that ‘thanks to exports and the consumer’s devotion to fine cuvees, Champagne will reach a record turnover of more than 5.5 billion Euros*’. But he stresses ‘the average shipments in 2020-2021, at 280 million bottles and 4.9 billion Euros, remain under the pre-pandemic levels (300 million bottles, 5 billion Euros in 2019)’.
Afflicted by the health crisis in 2020 and challenging climatic conditions in 2021, Champagne now hopes that 2022 will open the way to a new cycle of growth.

#champagne #champagnelovers #champagneeconomics #champagneregion #comitechampagne
#cheers #wine #winelovers #celebrate #winenews #wineexports #reims #epernay #aube

BlockBar NFT Gifting Platform Launches with 300 Bottles of Penfolds Wine

BlockBar, the world’s first direct-to-consumer NFT platform for wine and spirits has just diversified further by launching a gifting capability comprised of 300 bottles of Penfolds.

This new initiative lets the BlockBar community gift a highly coveted collectible wine or spirit connect the physical and digital world. In fact, BlockBar says the market for investing in high-end collectible spirits, like Penfolds wine, has increased by 582 % in the last decade.

Sam Falic, co-founder of BlockBar, told Forbes about the platform’s extension which targets both crypto experts and beginners: “This is of great value to add to your digital portfolio, aside from the digital art you own, you can now own a digital bottle and build your digital bar which is also backed by physical assets.”

NFT (Non-fungible tokens) are currently popular (almost in every industry), from art to rare wine and spirits. Since its founding in 2018, BlockBar has allowed consumers to purchase asset-backed NFTs directly from brand owners, to burn, redeem or sell the physical product. The actual bottles are stored in a secured facility in Singapore. BlockBar also gives the chance to gift the physical product, and the NFT gifting platform is designed so that anyone can use it.

Penfolds wine estate has launched a limited edition NFT tied to its rare Magill Cellar 3 barrel of wine, available to purchase for $130,000.

Dov Falic, the other co-founder of BlockBar, explained: “All you need to know is that you are receiving a gift which is a physical bottle that is stored for you in a secure location; the fact that it’s built on blockchain or uses NFTs is the mechanism to prove provenance and ownership. You can take possession of the bottle anytime you want.”

BlockBar’s first NFT gift launches on 18 January 2022, with limited edition NFTs linked to 300 bottles of Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 2018, priced around 0.13 ETH ($467). The founders described the Australian producers’ rare wine as the highest quality and representative blend of the brand’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and “one of the most collectible and giftable wine brands in the world.”

When the NFT is purchased, the cryptographic version is stored securely on BlockBar with proof of authenticity held on the blockchain as a digital certificate of ownership. The recipient will receive an email with an invite to create or sign into an account and accept their NFT, receiving full ownership. The receiver now can choose to redeem the physical product, trade its NFT version within the BlockBar marketplace or store it in their virtual bar, all with no additional transaction fees.

The limited-edition NFT release includes a buyer experience: the first three people to purchase six bottles of NFT Penfolds Magill Cellar 3 2018 are invited to a private virtual session with Penfolds Chief Winemaker, Peter Gago, and will receive a personalized plaque for their wine gift box as well.

#wine #winelovers #BlockBar #wineinvestors #wineinvestment #winecollectors
#winecollector #wineenthusiast #finewines #winelife #luxurywine #womeninwine #penfoldswine #limitededition #NFT #NFTgifting

US E-Commerce Alcohol Sales Surpass $6bn in 2021

According to new data released by Rabobank their 2022 Alcohol E-commerce Playbook Report looked at the US alcohol e-commerce market and how it has grown since the start of the pandemic. The report forecasts that the online channel is set to be the biggest driver of industry growth for years to come.

The report predicts online alcohol sales in the US will grow an additional 3.4% in 2022 and has noted that the average size of e-commerce teams at US alcohol companies has jumped by 117% since 2019.

“E-commerce will be the number-one driver of industry growth over the next decade and a critical component of brand building, awareness, and trial, both online and in-store,” said Bourcard Nesin, a Rabo Research F&A beverages analyst, and author of the report.

“Companies that fail to proactively invest in their e-commerce teams will struggle to remain relevant and retain market share.”

Analysis of Major Channels
Online sales now represent about 4% of all off-trade alcohol sales in the US, an increase of nearly 1.9% in 2019.

The online grocery and marketplace channels grew 271% in two years and are now nearly four times larger than they were pre-pandemic.

Online alcohol sales in the grocery channel increased 238% in 2020 and 9% last year. Rabobank states the increase is due to a large number of retail locations offering alcohol online.

The report further said online alcohol marketplaces increased by 274% in 2020, with the channel predicted to grow by 15% in 2022.

Rabobank said companies such as Drizly and Instacart obtained millions of customers and added thousands of stores to their retail networks. Together, the two companies have an 86% market share of sales in the channel.

The channel’s success resulted in major merger and acquisition activity, including Uber’s US$1.1 billion purchase of Drizly last year, Rabobank noted. In November 2021, e-commerce platform Reserve Bar agreed to acquire Minibar Delivery.

Meanwhile, specialty alcohol retailers, which include large chain stores, state-owned retailers, and independent shops with an online offering, increased by 151% in 2020. Rabobank said growth was driven by operators offering local delivery and curbside pick-up for the first time.

#wine #onlinewine #winemarkets #winenews #ecommerce #rabobank #winelovers
#instawine #drizly #uber #alcohol #winedelivery #winetrends