Australia Threatening Italian Wine Export Supremacy to the U S, Says Coldiretti
Staff Writer - July 15, 2004
 "The 5.3 percent growth in value of Italian wine export to the U S in the first quarter of 2004, kept Italy at the top of the American wine market as main importing country. Almost a third of the money spent on imported wines in the United States go to Italian products (32.1 percent)."
This is what the Coldiretti (the Italian farmer's association) reports, based on the first quarter of 2004 data released by the Italian Wine & Food Institute. However, points out the Coldiretti, the Australian wine imports grew a record 16.6 percent in the same period, acquiring a market share of 24.7 percent, thus threatening the Italian leadership. French wine imports, on the other hand, suffered a drastic collapse, dropping a huge 23.1 percent in value to 21.8 percent of market share.
"Taking into account the fact that the wine imports from these three countries adds up to 81.3 percent, and the variation during the first quarter of 2004 was imperceptible, having dropped just 1.2 percent, it is clear that the Australian and Italian imports growth have eroded the French market share directly," notes the Coldiretti.
Compared to 2003 data, we noticed that the cost per liter of Italian wines grew 15 percent, bringing the average value to $4.59. The Australian wines were almost unchanged at the average value of $4.09 per liter, while the French fared the worst even in this case. In fact, the average cost per liter of French wines dropped 9.5 percent. Nonetheless, French wines still lead the value per liter of imported wines with the average cost of $7.97.
"Though correct marketing choices represent an important tool for acquiring and maintaining market share, it is important to point out that Italian wine exports to the United States could easily double," according to Coldiretti. "That is, if the WTO's commercial agreements send a strong message to stop "wine piracy" and unfair "reproduction" of the Made in Italy in enogastronomy."
According to a recent survey, in the United States alone the market share of imitation Italian wines is on par with the market share of the original products. In other words, one out of two bottles of "italian wine" is an imitation. In fact, it is commonplace to find in American stores Chianti, Sangiovese, Refosco and Barbera (even in the Rosé variety), Barolo and Super Piedmontese made in California. As there are California-made Moscato e Malvasia with Napa Valley and Sonoma County "DOC" as well.
"There are several countries," continue the Coldiretti, "where it is pretty easy to market local wine pretending it to be Italian. The most imitated are Chianti, Lambrusco, Marsala and the Grappa liquor."
Italy is the second European wine producer and counts on 427 DOCG, DOC and IGT wines. These "appellation" wines represent 60 percent of the Italian wine production, which is globally valued at 8.5 billion Euros, generating exports for over 2.5 billion Euros, marking it the highest scoring Italian agricultural export items.
To guarantee market fairness, and at the same time protect traditional productions from unfair imitations, fighting agricultural piracy is a fundamental task for the WTO. "Addressing this problem," concludes the Coldiretti, "it is a choice for market transparency that could avoid dramatic economic and employment repercussions in Europe and Italy."
Wine exports value to the US in 2004
(All values in thousands of dollars– first quarter 2004) |
COUNTRIES |
2003 |
2004 |
Variation % |
Market Share % |
Italy |
249,209 |
262,464 |
+ 5.3% |
32.1% |
Australia |
192,253 |
224,088 |
+ 16.6% |
27.4% |
France |
238,926 |
177,524 |
-23.1% |
21.8% |
TOTAL (exports from all countries) |
815,533 |
816,940 |
-0.2% |
100% |
| Source: Coldiretti and Italian Wine & Food Institute |
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