Wine sales continue to grow year on year, but with per capita consumption still at around 11 liters, there is still huge potential for building sales, particularly among less regular wine drinkers, says the report. US is currently the third largest world wine market after Italy and France.
Pointing to the 3.5% volume growth last year, against 0.3% and a drop of 2.2% in Italy and France respectively, and rising per capita consumption, the USA Wine Market Landscape Report 2008 paints an upbeat picture for the future of the wine market in the US.
"Even in the tricky economic conditions of 2008, wine sales have still been rising," says Graham Holter, associate director of Wine Intelligence. "Americans are embracing wine as never before as a younger generation of health-conscious and cosmopolitan drinkers discover the pleasures of a glass or two with a meal. Despite the advances wine has made in recent years, and the converts it has made, the opportunity for growth still remains huge."
While there are 73m regular wine drinkers in the US, the report points to the fact that some 85m Americans do not drink alcohol due to the cultural diversity in the country. These differences also include varying regulatory structures for different states.
Thirty two states can be described as 'Open' states and include wine consuming regions such as California, New York, Florida and Texas, with the first three accounting for more than 30% of national wine consumption.
Across the country as a whole there is a significant female bias, with women making up 57% of regular wine consumers. The report also points out that 46% of wine drinkers currently account for nearly 80% of the total market value.
Wine Intelligence divides the drinking audience into five distinct consumer groups: Generation Treater; Premium Brand Suburban; Senior Sipper; Kitchen Casual; and Un-engaged. Generation Treaters (42%) and Premium Brand Suburbans (32%) account for thre-fourth of total wine sales in the US.
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