Rabobank has published a new report on the role of Millennials and Gen Xers in driving premiumization in the global wine industry, and the divergent channels that wine marketers are using to pursue these important new consumers.

In the report, the bank’s Food & Agribusiness Research team says that Millennials and Generation X consumers are shaping and changing the global wine consumption market. The global wine community currently has a great deal of interest at the more premium end of the global market, says the Rabobank report titled 'Premium wine – It’s a long way to the top'.

Wine suppliers and wine retailers have sensed a growing appetite for wines beyond the mainstream. Rabobank analyst Marc Soccio says, “Somewhat paradoxically, the markets are still seeing many premium wine producers struggling for growth and profitability as their capacity to reach out to modern-day consumers has become more limited.”

“As the high-volume grocery retail channel in particular is becoming the realm of bigger brands and suppliers, smaller brands have little choice but to seek new ways to connect with the pockets of consumers looking to head upmarket,” says Soccio.

“The rise of some premium-focused emerging markets, such as China, has played a key role in stimulating global demand for more premium – mostly red – wines, as rising incomes and exposure to western cultural norms have taken effect.”

In the report, Rabobank explores how:

  • Changing generational preferences are playing a role in driving premium wine consumption around the world. However, premiumization is more evident in some markets such as the U.S. and Canada than in others, where signals have been obscured by structural and economic impediments.
  • Growth of the grocery retail channel is favoring bigger brands and suppliers, while smaller brands have little choice but to seek new ways to connect with the pockets of consumers looking to head upmarket, in particular through the online retail channel and new on-premise formats.
  • Not all premium wine producers in all regions have been able to capitalize on rising demand for more premium wines, with only a limited subset of premium-focused regions receiving positive market signals to produce more, not less.

Markets for premium foreign wines

In the report, Soccio says, “While the fervor and disposition for more premium foreign wines has begun to wane in recent times, the market for these wines still accounts for a significant component of global demand that hardly existed only a decade ago.”

Increasingly, it is the newer generations of consumers who are shaping global wine consumption, and these consumers have a higher level of awareness of wine and wine quality than any generation before them,” says Soccio.

For more information, contact Marc Soccio: Marc.Soccio@rabobank.com +61 4 1841 3187

The report is available to Rabobank clients and members of the media for reporting purposes.

Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, real estate services, and renewable energy project financing. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank is one of the largest banks in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets and operations in more than 40 countries. In North America, Rabobank is a premier bank to the food, beverage and agribusiness industry. Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory team is comprised of more than 80 analysts around the world who provide expert analysis, insight and counsel to Rabobank clients about trends, issues and developments in all sectors of agriculture. www.rabobank.com/f&a

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