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Johannesburg - Exports of South African-packaged wines to the UK have dropped by 29% in volume over the past 11 months, Business Day reported on Wednesday.
Wines of SA, the industry body responsible for promoting South African wines abroad, attributed the drop in sales to a shift to bottling and packaging by some of the bigger supermarket brands in the UK. The supermarkets are opting to buy only the wine and then to package it themselves.
Jo Wehring, the organisation’s UK market manager, said "tough economic times" had forced the biggest retail stores to choose to bottle South African-sourced wines in the UK.
Wehring noted that these retail stores were importing bulk, unpackaged South African wine in an effort to cut costs.
Research by consulting firm ACNielsen shows the value of South African wine sales has dropped by £3 a bottle in the UK in the year under review.
This figure translates into 48.5% of lost revenue for wine exporters, the research indicated.
Despite a drop in sales and exports, Wehring remained optimistic that trading conditions would improve.
The UK is South Africa’s largest trading partner in the European Union and is also the largest buyer of local wines.
Wines of SA, the industry body responsible for promoting South African wines abroad, attributed the drop in sales to a shift to bottling and packaging by some of the bigger supermarket brands in the UK. The supermarkets are opting to buy only the wine and then to package it themselves.
Jo Wehring, the organisation’s UK market manager, said "tough economic times" had forced the biggest retail stores to choose to bottle South African-sourced wines in the UK.
Wehring noted that these retail stores were importing bulk, unpackaged South African wine in an effort to cut costs.
Research by consulting firm ACNielsen shows the value of South African wine sales has dropped by £3 a bottle in the UK in the year under review.
This figure translates into 48.5% of lost revenue for wine exporters, the research indicated.
Despite a drop in sales and exports, Wehring remained optimistic that trading conditions would improve.
The UK is South Africa’s largest trading partner in the European Union and is also the largest buyer of local wines.
