Publishing: 16 April

Advertising deadline: 24 March

Submissions deadline: 18 March

Contact:Emma Sturgess (emma-sturgess@hotmail.co.uk)

Download full synopsis here.

The Story

Chin chin! Wine and Champagne is in strong growth, with value and volumes up, making it the strongest performing booze sector in grocery. So why are Brits knocking back more wine? What kinds of wine are we drinking more of? Which retailers, brands and wine makers are cashing in? Is anyone being left behind?

Key themes:

Fizzy wine: Sales of Prosecco continue to soar. In fact, Brits now knock back 50% more of the Italian fizz than they do Cava and Champagne combined. What’s new this year is that Cava is back in significant growth. What’s driven this? Who’s cashing in as Brits continue to switch to sparkling wine? How are different retailers approaching the sector?

Still wine: Of course, still the biggest part of the market by a long shot, and it’s experiencing strong growth. Which retailers, brands, grape varieties and types of wine are driving this growth? Where is the growth in wine coming from; are drinkers switching from other types of drinks, such as lager and cider? How are the sweeter, weaker varieties such as Muscato doing?

The retail mix: Key to this feature will be a discussion of how different retailers, particularly the discounters, are performing in this market. How do their approaches differ and to what extent are they using the strength of their retailer exclusive and own label wines as a point of difference?

Own label v brands: This feature will explore in detail the factors that have helped brands outgrow own label in wine, a sector in which own label takes up an unusually high proportion of sales (as compared to, say, spririts). Pay particular attention to how retailers have changed their branded and own label ranging in the past year.

Innovation: This will be key to this feature. We will be investigating how new product development has shaped the category over the past year and what is in store for shoppers in 2016. We will be profiling four of the most interesting launches in a separate innovation panel.

Promotions: This feature will explore how the promotional strategies of retailers and brands have changed over the past year. Attention will be paid to the promotional strategies of retailers and how this has affected average prices over the past year.

Advertising and marketing: This feature will also investigate how the marketing and advertising strategies of the category’s biggest brands have evolved over the past year and how they will develop in the coming year to sustain growth or return brands to growth.

Key questions the feature is likely to address:

  • What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year?
  • How have promotional strategies (both in terms of price and marketing) evolved?
  • How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market?
  • How has merchandising changed in the market?
  • What impact has own-label had on branded players?
  • What’s next for the category?

Downloads