Colangelo & Partners (www.colangelopr.com) and Wine Opinions (www.wineopinions.com) combined resources and expertise for their first-ever industry survey designed to inform better decision-making for wine companies and wine marketers alike in 2023.
“By combining our databases and our category experience, we have been able to glean important, statistically significant learnings that will inform our marketing strategies for our clients heading into an uncertain business landscape in 2023,” said Gino Colangelo, president of Colangelo & Partners.
A Balanced Response, and Varied Findings
The survey drew over 1,000 respondents from all 50 states across the three tiers of the U.S. beverage alcohol industry, offering geographic and demographic balance. Nearly 50% of respondents came from New York and California, with Florida, Washington and Colorado being the next most prominent markets. “One of our most interesting findings came from the demographics of the respondents themselves,” explained John Gillespie, president of Wine Opinions. “Women represented 39 % of respondents under the age of 40. Conversely, only 16% of female respondents were over the age of 60. These findings suggest much greater gender balance in the wine industry heading into the future.”
The survey touched upon a broad array of topics including price sensitivity going into a potentially recessionary economic environment, predictions for growth of categories such as organic and ‘better for you’ wines, favored social media channels for the business of wine, preferences for in-person vs. virtual events heading into the new year, emerging secondary markets, and predictions for the ‘next big thing’ in terms of wine regions.
Category Trends
By a margin of two to one, respondents voted Sicily as the next hot wine region followed by Paso Robles and the Douro. Respondents also expect the ‘sweet spot’ for wine retail to see a slight increase to $21, (up from $20 in 2022), suggesting no price-sensitivity concern despite the uncertain US economic forecast.
According to the survey, the ‘better for you’ and lower alcohol categories are expected to outperform natural wines and wine marketed as sustainable or produced from organically grown grapes by a wide margin. Nearly one-third indicated carrying lower alcohol wines; one-quarter carry “Zero alcohol” wines and 28% carry wines in the “Better for you” category. I think we should give the figures for projected growth = not the percentages of respondent companies carrying these types of wine
Industry Events and Key Markets
Another noteworthy nugget was the preference for in-person events vs. virtual events by a 2 to 1 margin. The survey also suggested that the walk-around tasting isn’t dead, as nearly half of the survey respondents rated them of high value to their own professional development. Denver and Chicago were highlighted as key focus markets in 2023, followed by Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Miami.
Some of the most interesting findings were about social media usage. While it’s not surprising that Instagram was the preferred social platform for doing wine business, it was a surprise to note that almost half of the respondents reported using TikTok in their work. TikTok-users skewed younger in age with 58% under the age of 40 while only 6% were 60-plus. Overall, the survey found that social media channels were used for business fairly evenly across the tiers of the trade.
“We learned a lot with this year’s survey,” said Gillespie. “We plan to make this annual, building upon this year’s learnings to continue to inform wine marketing activities into the future.”
Please contact Juliana Colangelo at jcolangelo@colangelopr.com for more information or to request the data from the survey.
About Colangelo & Partners
Colangelo & Partners (www.colangelopr.com) is the leading fine wine and spirits integrated communications agency in the United States, sought after by top brands and industry players for the quality of their results, creativity, and return on investment. The professionals at Colangelo & Partners work with integrity and passion to influence how US audiences perceive their clients: Earning consistent, high-quality positive media coverage; organizing signature events; strategizing and executing standout digital campaigns, and implementing trade programs that strengthen relationships within the industry. Colangelo & Partners’ clientele includes global, instantly-recognizable brands and passionate, up-and-coming vignerons and distillers; regional and national institutions; and technology and e-commerce companies innovating in the beverage alcohol sector
About Wine Opinions
Wine Opinions is a wine industry research provider, offering both trade and consumer insights on the U.S. wine market. Wine Opinions maintains the only national trade and consumer research panels in the industry, and performs both quantitative and qualitative research.