A change of perspective on the wine market

Premium wines did not manage to evade the negative effects of recession either. According to Ferenc Szlávik, head of wine division at Zwack Izabella Borkereskedés, in the culinary sector consumers took one step back and drink wines sold at a more favourable price level.

When it comes to purchasing wines, consumers prefer those retail channels where they get the desired bottle of wine cheaper. The company recently came out with the Zekk wine selection that targets young consumers. They try to create the concept of ‘party wine’ – to make people realise that light white, rosé or even red wines cannot only be consumed with meals but also as ‘the fuel of the night’. Gábor Soltész, president-CEO of Ostoros Novaj Bor Zrt. spoke about the growing proportion of wine sold in promotion. Many price-sensitive consumers limit their buying exclusively to products in promotion. Most people like to drink good, but not expensive wines regularly so the goal of Ostoros Novaj is to offer reliable wines to consumers, deals for which buyers are willing to pay every day. The CEO believes that with a well-organised professional structure top wines can be made in wineries where great volumes are produced. Dezső Diószegi, the sales director of In Vino Veritas Borkereskedés told Trade magazin that they experienced no significant change from the previous year but agreed that the wine market is still characterised by recession. He mentioned that the consumption of premium wines was at a low but cheap categories realised moderate growth in sales. Wines with a perfect price-value ratio remain to be the only stronghold and sales of these can be boosted further with price promotions. János Frittmann, the co-owner of Frittmann winery highlighted the palpable changes in consumption habits: many people are becoming unfaithful to full-bodied wines and fall in love with lighter wines. Mr Frittmann also sees great potential in young consumers and opines that the majority of Hungarian wines is not expensive. István Bodri, the owner of Bodri winery shared the view that light wines are becoming trendy but also stressed that an increasing number of young people like to taste rich and intense wines too. Ferenc Szlávik was of the opinion that it was in lower price categories and in retail where import wines found their market. When it comes to high quality wines, import products lose their price advantage. Gábor Soltész told that winemakers are not able to use collective marketing tools efficiently yet. János Frittmann admitted that in the fragmented wine sector it is a gargantuan task to prepare a unified wine strategy. Most of the time winemakers and wine distributors participate in events where they can meet their consumers directly. However, the events they organise themselves are the most important promotional tools. The experts agreed that medals won at competitions generate increased interest in their products and result in sales growth.