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ALDI has experienced a significant rise in wine and sparkling wine sales over the past year and a half. The popularity of premium wines is growing among consumers. ALDI expects the final months of 2024 to continue to bring strong sales, particularly for premium products. ALDI’s wine and champagne assortment has evolved over the past eighteen months, and the discounter chain has set its prices with great care to ensure that every customer segment can find the right product for them.

Márió Spáda adds that for a few years sales of white wines have been growing dynamically, with Irsai Olivér and Sauvignon Blanc being particularly popular, but classics such as Italian Riesling and Chardonnay are also on the rise. The 2025 METRO Wine of the Year competition is currently underway, offering a great opportunity to build and deepen supplier relationships. A special feature of METRO’s wine departments is the presence of in-store wine experts.

Buyer needs and expert help

SPAR is in direct contact with most of its suppliers and the retailer is regularly informing winemakers about the changes in consumption habits, so that they make wines that customers actually want. For instance this summer SPAR asked customers about their wine drinking habits, as part of the “big wine test”. Auchan cooperates with experts and reviews the product selection every year. They are sourcing wine directly from the winemakers as much as possible. 90% of Auchan’s wine offering is domestic products, as it is important for them to support Hungarian wineries. By now the number of direct supplier wineries has exceeded 80. With many winemakers they develop unique products made exclusively for Auchan, plus premium category limited series as well.

Export and import

Lidl’s observation is that Hungarian consumers prefer fragrant wines, light rosés, and various sparkling and semi-sparkling wines. The most popular varieties are Irsai Olivér and Sauvignon Blanc. Lidl’s assortment now includes both permanent and special offers from renowned national wineries and smaller family and artisan wineries. Hungarian wineries sold more than 200 million bottles of Hungarian wine over the past 10 years with Lidl’s help, and half of this quantity has been exported. In ALDI stores there is a clear increase in demand for white wines, while the popularity of rosé and red wines hasn’t diminished. This is why the company is strengthening these segments, with the focus on fragrant, light white wines in summer and fuller-bodied red wines in the colder months. ALDI actively communicates with its partners about how to meet customer needs. It regularly shares its own sales experience, consumer feedback and market observations with its suppliers, so that they can use this information in product development. //