Magazine: A greater focus on wine

Judit Tőzsér
head of corporate communications
Lidl Magyarország

Lidl is proud of its unique wine range including affordable Hungarian and imported quality wines. As Judit Tőzsér, head of corporate communications at Lidl Hungary told, the discounter gives high priority to the support of domestic wine producers and wineries, which is also reflected in its own-branded excellent wine blends and the fact that it has recently lent a helping hand to a number of Hungarian wineries by ensuring presence on store shelves.

Impulsive premium

Márk Maczelka
head of communications
SPAR

INTERSPAR offers 550 wines, 95 per cent of which are sourced from Hungarian wineries, Márk Maczelka, head of communications, SPAR told. The pandemic affected SPAR’s wine sales, particularly in the premium segment that is quite impulsive. The grocer focuses on domestic wines and wants to further the sales thereof and support winemakers thereby.

Eszter Varga
external communications
manager
Tesco

In an effort to provide a wide range of competitive products to customers, Tesco’s wine offer underwent a thorough revision in the past six months, Eszter Varga, external communications manager told. As a result, the assortment has been extended by 20 per cent. Hungarian wines have a key role in Tesco’s offer, too. The grocer also saw changes in wine drinking habits but faced a less drastic decline than the hospitality sector.

Rhyming with winemakers

With a view to help Hungarian vineyards, Tesco does its best to keep closer contact with partners and plans with the upcoming vintages accordingly.

ALDI made efforts to compose the possibly widest selection of red, white and rosé wines, completed with sparkling wines and champagnes from domestic and foreign wineries. The pandemic brought about a major rise in wine sales for ALDI that tries to help by buying larger volumes when sourcing products for promotional purposes.

Hungarian customers seem to turn to premium wines and there is an increasing demand for higher-priced quality products, Judit Tőzsér, Lidl told. Packaging that meets customer demands such as bag-in-box, or wine-based cocktails and sparkling wines in aluminium boxes are also available. Further growing its share in wine sales within and beyond the borders of Hungary, Lidl sold 23.7 million bottles of Hungarian wine. The value of wines exported by Lidl amounted to HUF 5 billion, thus the discounter has a share of 30 per cent in the export of Hungarian bottled wines.

At SPAR light, fresh and fragrant wines are the most favoured, but rosé wines are also very popular. Márk Maczelka recalled that the premiumisation that started in the past few years has come to a halt amidst the pandemic.

Light-tasting, fresh and fragrant wines still sell the best

Packaging and prices

SPAR also sees a rise in the popularity of bag-in-box and wine sacks, to which the grocer responded in the summer. Wines in alu-box have only been rolled out in Hungary this year.

Sales of bag-in-box wines at Tesco have grown by over 35 per cent in contrast to last year, which also implies that customers consider sustainability upon purchasing. Alu-boxes and other small types of wine packaging and wine cocktails are also increasingly sought after.

ALDI has been experiencing a shift in consumption towards quality along with a price sensitivity that mainly concerns items of great value for money. Bag-in-box wines and other alternative packaging types are on the shelves only in promotion. //