Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. ends 2016 with 90 million bottles sold and targets the market with an increase in the value of the product.
The North-East confirms itself as the most significant market within Italy, with 18.8 million bottles sold in 2015 (up 11% on 2014). Forecasts for 2016 estimate that a total of 90 million bottles will be sold and the scenario presented in the 2016 Annual Financial Report suggests growth in value terms both in Italy and abroad.
The 2016 Annual Financial Report, drawn up by Research Centre of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene District and coordinated by the Interdepartmental Centre for Research in Viticulture and Oenology (CIRVE) of the University of Padua, was presented today at Villa Brandolini. The Report describes in detail the state of health (in production and economic terms) of the Denomination. This year it also contains a new feature: it forecasts the results at the end of 2016 which, interpreted through our wine’s performance in the supermarket sector, look forward to further growth – especially in value – for Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G.. The speeches made by Prof. Vasco Boatto, Director of CIRVE and in charge of the District’s Research Centre, Simonetta Melis, IRI Client Service Senior Manager and Eugenio Pomarici, responsible for CIRVE’s research into the U.S. market, brought to the audience’s attention Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G.’s success in the marketplace – in spite of an economic environment that is still anything but brilliant – and especially the wine’s ability to raise the value of the entire sector, both in Italy and abroad.
“Our Denomination is a worldwide success story,” declared Innocente Nardi, President of the Producers’ Consortium for Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G., “that starts off from an area limited to 15 communes between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene and which – ever since the creation of the Denomination in 1969 – has never widened its borders, notwithstanding the fact that its sales continue to increase. The latest figures forecast that around 90 million bottles will be sold in 2016, a rise of 8% compared to 2015. The maintenance of the same area of land under vine is an exceptional element of merit,” the President continued, “which is indissolubly linked with the strong sense of identity that our wine has for us producers, to the extent that it has become an Italian region that we have put forward as a candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site”.
The Financial Report, analysing the year 2015, certifies production of 83.7 million bottles of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G., which signifies an increase over 2014 of 6% in volume and 10% in value. A figure of more than eighty million bottles represents a doubling in sales in the last ten years, accompanied by an increase in value. As regards the Italian market, sales in 2015 grew by 15% in value and 12% in volume compared to 2014. Particular dynamism was evident in the South, Sicily and Sardinia, which together were up 25% on 2014.
Export: the strategic markets
Export markets saw growth of 7.5% in value terms, remaining essentially stable with regard to volumes. Germany, the leading export market for the Denomination, grew by 7% in value despite a context of contraction in imports of sparkling wines. The British market regained second place in the world rankings for sparkling wine imports and Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. showed a growth in sales of 21% in value compared to 2014. In 2015 the United States was once again the no. 1 nation for sparkling wine imports, with strong growth in value, up 29% on 2014. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G was part and parcel of this scenario and thoroughly reflected its dynamics. It in fact registered an increase of 9.3% in value and 7.9% in volume. The U.S. market confirmed its place as the fourth most important export destination for our product, with sales of 12.8 million Euros (2.8 million bottles). In Benelux, in spite of a decreasing market for sparkling wines, our D.O.C.G. witnessed growth and in fact more than doubled its previous result in value terms (+112%).
The importance of exports and in particular of growth in the U.S. market for our D.O.C.G. is highlighted by CIRVE’s research, which underlines that the most likely prospect in the United States is an increase in the value of the product.
The principal sales channels
During 2015 the HORECA channel had sales of 85.9 million Euros, corresponding to a volume of 13.2 million bottles. Compared to 2014, this segment produced an excellent performance, up 21% in value and around 14% in volume.
Centralized buying companies absorbed 17.7 million bottles of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G., with an ex-cellars value of over 89.4 million. This meant an increase of 11% compared to 2014.
Lastly, wholesalers stood out with the best performance, with an ex-cellars value of more than 61.2 million Euros and a volume of 12.2 million bottles: compared to the previous year, they registered an increase of 27% in value and 18% in volume.
It is now possible to give some forecasts for the 2016 results of the supermarket sector in Italy, which had a turnover of 56 million Euros in the first ten months of the year (source: IRI. Hypermarkets, Supermarkets, Minimarkets – Summary to October 2016). In this channel, too, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. is at the forefront of an upswing in value for sparkling Prosecco in general, representing 55% of sales of this product segment, with a growth trend of 19%. These figures for 2016 contribute towards an excellent overall result for the sparkling wine category this year.
Tourism and winery visits
In the communes included in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore District (Conegliano, San Vendemiano, Colle Umberto, Vittorio Veneto, Tarzo, Cison di Valmarino, San Pietro di Feletto, Refrontolo, Susegana, Pieve di Soligo, Farra di Soligo, Follina, Miane, Vidor and Valdobbiadene) one finds around 15% of tourist activity in the Province of Treviso. In the last ten years the District has witnessed an increase in incoming of an average of 2.3% each year. In particular, in 2015 there were 126,892 people who stopped in the area without staying overnight and 265,812 people who stayed to sleep in the District.
As regards where these tourists come from, in 2015 there were 57.8% Italian tourists in the former category and 53.2% in the latter, whereas foreign tourists accounted for 42.2% and 46.8% respectively.
Winery visits are an important and attractive aspect of local tourism, and the wineries in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene District, though relatively small in size, continue to cultivate a vocation for hospitality. Indeed, each year, 87.8% of them provide tours of the winery and 68.7% visits to the vineyards.
In 2015, the overall number of visitors to wineries was up by 6% compared to 2014, and it should be noted that 41.4% of producers welcomed between 200 and 1000 visitors during the course of the year.