£5 Prosecco a thing of the past

Rising bulk Prosecco prices will make £5 Prosecco a thing of the past, believes Paolo Lasagni, MD, Bosco Viticultori.

Asda is selling its own-label Prosecco Spumante Extra Dry for £5 a bottle

Currently, the cheapest Prosecco in the UK can be found at Asda, where the supermarket is selling its own-label Prosecco Spumante Extra Dry for £5 a bottle, but Lasagni, who represents one of the Veneto’s biggest Prosecco producers, stressed that the offer was based on last year’s grape prices, and won’t be repeated in 2015.

“£5 Prosecco is the cheapest you will see on the market today, but that is from last year’s contract, and this year the price of bulk Prosecco has gone up,” he told db at last month’s World Bulk Wine Fair in Amsterdam.

As a result, he said that he believes that next year “the cheapest you will see Prosecco in the UK is £6.49 on promotion, if the supermarkets are to still make some margin”.

Continuing, he said, “Last year the bulk price for Prosecco was €1.10 per litre, but now the bulk price is €1.40, and it is mainly sold out.”

Nevertheless, he added that he foresees problems at the newly-elevated cost.

“When it was at €1.10, the producers, bottlers, retailers and customers were very happy, but at €1.40, the only ones who are happy are the growers… but for one year only.”

Paolo Lasagni is MD of the Veneto’s Bosco Viticultori

This is because Lasagni believes there’s a danger higher priced Prosecco will be replaced by “generic sparkling, such as cremant from France, or Cava might come back.”

He then stated, “If Prosecco doesn’t go below £7 on promotion, then I think there will be a problem… I’m not pessimistic, but I’m concerned.”

He also commented, “Now we have this fantastic commercial toy but we have to keep the price consistent, otherwise the success won’t last.”

Drawing a comparison with another Italian wine region, he warned, “You have seen that as the bulk price of Chianti has gone up, it is being replaced by other Italians reds, such as Montepulciano.”

Nevertheless, Lasagni admitted that there may need to be a slowdown in the present rate of Prosecco sales growth.

“I think the whole production [from this year] will be sold out by mid May 2015 if consumption continues at current rates.”