Vinexpo: White and Rosé wines to drive Hong Kong’s wine growth

The latest report released by Vinexpo and IWSR suggests that the white and rosé wine categories will be driving Hong Kong’s wine consumption during the five year period from 2017 to 2022, while red wine consumption will remain static.

Wine consumption in Hong Kong is set for incremental growth, with overall increases in wine and spirits sales fixed firmly on the core standard and premium segments of the market, according to the report released on 14 March.

From 2017 to 2022, still and sparkling wine growth is projected to grow by 131,000 9-litre cases, much of which will be driven by white and rosé wines eating into the dominant red wine market.

White wine volume consumption is forecast to grow from 0.5 million 9-litre cases in 2017 to 0.6 million cases in 2022. This compares with a red wine market which will remain static at 2.9 million cases through 2017–2022.

The report also notes that there is a significant ‘Super Premium+’ quality segment in still wine consumption at 0.5 million cases; however, this is forecast to remain virtually static in the five-year period at only 0.2% CAGR.

Sparkling wine consumption will grow from 0.19 million cases to 0.21 million cases by 2022 according to the forecast. A significant factor here is the appeal of sparkling wine to a younger generation and female drinkers, some of whom are likely to move away from more traditional categories such as Scotch.

By category, Champagne is forecast to remain ahead over other sparkling wines from 2017 to 2022 with French, Australian, Italian and, to a lesser degree, Spanish sparkling wines all expected to contribute to growth in this period.

Growth will be centred on the standard and super-premium segments that dominate the sparkling wine market, with a 1.6% forecast CAGR through 2017–2022. By volume over the same period, France is also expected to lead with Champagne continuing to be viewed by the younger generation and female drinkers as the absolute benchmark, but Australia and Italy are projected to grow at higher CAGR’s forecast through 2017–2022 at 7.3% and 7.1% respectively compared to France’s 1%, the report noted.

In the spirits category however there’s likely to be a decline in consumption throughout the period. However, modest growth is expected across some spirits categories, with younger consumers switching from traditional white spirits to the benefit of US whiskey and premium Tequila and gin as more brands enter the market. Super-premium vodka is being hit by consumers moving to other spirits categories or Champagne.

Meanwhile, Vinexpo also announced its first Vinexpo Shanghai edition in mainland China from 23-25 October at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center (SWEECC). This new biennial Vinexpo exhibition reflects the group’s global expansion strategy and ambition to be present in China every year, with Vinexpo Hong Kong already taking place every two years.