The Irish Wine Association (IWA) has released its annual ‘Wine Market Report’ which finds that beer remains Ireland’s most popular alcohol beverage, but wine is a firm second favourite. The market share for wine increased marginally from 27.6% in 2016 to 27.7% in 2017. Beer has a 44.8% market share, down from 45.8% in 2017.
The wine report found that white wine is the most popular wine variant in Ireland, with a 50% share of the market. Red wine consumption fell by 2%, going from a 47% share to 45%. Meanwhile, rosé consumption increased in 2017 for the first time in many years, from 3% in 2016 to 5%.
Irish consumers are choosing new world wines over old world wines. The top two countries from which Ireland sources wine are Chile, which has 27% of the market share followed by Australia with 16.7%. After this there is France (12.7%), Spain (12.6%) and Italy (9.4%).
Wine importers and distributors based in Ireland make a significant contribution to the economy, employing over 1,100 people directly and supporting thousands of other jobs in restaurants, pubs, independent off-licences, supermarkets and hotels that sell wine.
The IWA report also notes that Irish consumers continue to pay the highest rate of excise duty on wine in the EU. Irish consumers pay an excise rate of €3.19 on a standard bottle of wine while the second highest rate in the EU is in Finland where consumers pay €2.54 per bottle. For sparkling wine, such as Champagne, Irish consumers pay €6.37 per bottle while the UK has the second most expensive rate of €2.99 per bottle.
Of the 28 EU member states, 14 charge no excise duty on wine. In 2017, the sector paid €382 million in excise to the exchequer, an increase of €2 million from the previous year.
Commenting on the report, Chair of the Irish Wine Association and Chairman of Febvre & Company, Jim Bradley said, "Today, Irish consumers are more sophisticated when it comes to food and they are blessed with an array of some of the world’s finest wines, which are ideal for food pairing. We saw wine consumption rise marginally in 2017 and the continued growth in the wider economy indicates that things remain favourable."
He added, "However, there are a number of challenges on the horizon, including a potential excise increase in the Budget. Irish consumers are already hit with the highest rate of excise on still wine in the EU. The excise hit for sparkling wine is doubled for consumers without for no reasonable rational basis. This is effectively a tax on our celebrations."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
