South Africa Over-takes the French!
According to the latest sales figures, South African wine imports in the UK market have overtaken that of French wine imports. SA wine imports in the UK have seen a 20% increase compared to 2009 figures, resulting in a total import volume of 12.27 million cases. The French, however, have suffered a loss of 12%, bringing their total volume sales to 12.26 million cases during the same time period.
Although, one should consider these sales statistics with caution. Firstly, it must be made clear that these are volume sales statistics and they do not consider actual value of imports. Most importantly, these figures only concern supermarket purchases and if one were to consider the entire market including restaurants, bars and hotels, the French would be about 40% ahead of South Africa, based on 2009 sales.
The reason for this trend in increasing SA volume sales is purely due to the structure of the market. With only 600 wine producers in South Africa producing relatively large export volumes, South Africa as a supplier becomes very attractive to large wholesale buyers. This coupled with a favorable exchange rates and an impressive Quality-Price Ratio, creates a healthy demand for South African wines.
South Africa might be in 4th place ahead of France in terms of bulk volume sales, but still have a way to go in order to compete with the likes of Australia, USA and Italy. I think that if South Africa is able to maintain its high level of quality and consistency, then wine exports are bound to enjoy further growth!
Cheers!
Brandon Marc
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