Global issues dominate Vinexpo Bordeaux 2017

Brexit is causing record-high U.K. wine prices – up 3% in 2017’s first quarter vs. 1% in the previous two years, according to Miles Beale, chief executive, UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Other news from Vinexpo’s Post-Brexit Wine and Spirits Market:

Panelists unanimously prioritized little or no change to trading arrangements, arguing the UK market, with its €2.5 billion in wine imports and €2.2 billion in spirits exports, is worth fighting for.
Politicians should avoid using any sector as a bargaining chip, particularly wine and spirits. Jean-Marie Barillère, president, Union of Champagne Houses, noted French exports never fully recovered from backlash to France’s 1990 South Pacific nuclear testing.
“The labour market is another way of saying immigration policy,” said Sean Allison, director, Château du Seuil. Referencing the U.K.’s hospitality industry alongside the wine trade, he cautioned stricter immigration policies will create “a very difficult situation in terms of the profitability of these industries.”
While the sterling’s devaluation is a barrier to UK sales for some wines, taxes are the bigger problem; Conviviality’s group wine buying director Andrew Shaw noted currency swings are 3% or less of the product’s total cost.
Shaw suggested rising UK prices could lead customers to trade up, boosting London’s premium wine market “because we engage with the customer at a different level.”

About Vinexpo

Founded by the Bordeaux Gironde Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1981, Vinexpo is the world’s leading show for wine and spirits professionals and a worldwide industry partner. Vinexpo is held in Bordeaux in odd-numbered years and Hong Kong and Tokyo in even-numbered years. In 2017, Vinexpo launched Vinexpo Explorer with two days of business meetings and discovering vineyards. Vinexpo New York debuts March 5-6, 2018.

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