Wine exporters take on UK beer industry

RAY SMUTS AS WINE increasingly becomes entrenched as a drink of choice among Britons, the UK beer industry is viewing it as a competitor, beverage expert Charlotte Hey said recently. Publisher of leading British trade journal The Drinks Business, Hey told a Wines of South Africa marketing intelligence conference for the South African wine industry in Cape Town recently that wine represented 33,2% of all alcoholic beverage retail sales in 2003; up by 1,5% over the previous year. Hey said wine producers who turned their backs on the yearly £8,5bn UK market did so “at their peril”, even though the UK market was admittedly becoming tougher due to wine-producing countries like Chile fighting for market share. Making the point that South Africa was ranked fifth in terms of retail market share, she urged local producers to build on an already strong base. This despite a global oversupply promoting aggressive discounting among New World and traditional producers. Whereas South Africa had over-delivered in the value-for-money sector (below £5), a big gap presented itself in the £5-8 category and even beyond, which would assist in enhancing South Africa’s image.