|  During an exclusive chat with delWine in London after the first leg of judging at the India Wine Challenge was over a few days ago, Robert Joseph had expressed the fear that the recession has already affected wine drinking habits in UK and the US will not be far behind with countries like India having to face the fire at some time in the near future too.
'Selling to UK would become extremely difficult; even more so than it is now. The buyers, wholesalers and consumers are going to look for even lower prices. Indian wines in the UK will face an even more intense competition',' said Robert. 'This would give an edge to wines like Sula which a Londoner drinks because of quality and not because it is a niche product.'
So far, the effect of economy on the wine industry has been a 'mixed picture' says Prof. Robert Smiley, a management professor and director of wine studies at the UC, Davis.
A recent research by The Nielsen Company indicates that although restaurants and bars see a decline in business during faltering economies, the affect is milder on retail store sales; although there's evidence that shoppers look for better prices. This means more people would drink wine at home rather than in a restaurant. Thus, a winery could lose restaurant business but make that up in retail sales.
Meanwhile, Nielsen figures from U.S. food, drug, and major market liquor stores as of late last month showed that 8.3 million cases of wine were sold for the four weeks ending Sept. 20, up nearly 3 percent from the same period a year ago.
Jancis Robinson has already said she does not feel there would be much fall in the consumption but the mid value wines would be under pressure. Many in the industry think wine is in a better position to face the situation in the USA than previous similar financial crises as wine drinking has become a daily routine with a lot more Americans.
India may not be affected as much as many other countries, at least in the near future. However, imported wines would be affected as they are already prohibitively expensive for most of the consumers who would look at price comparisons more closely. |