Calorie-focused marketing more effective for wine trade

By Emily Kearns

Published: 20 May, 2013

Marketing wine on the number of calories it contains is far more effective than claiming drinking it can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

Speaking at the London International Wine Fair 2013 today at ExCeL, London, Mintel global drinks analyst Jonny Forsyth said the idea of a healthy lifestyle remains an abstract idea for consumers, making it difficult to market.

However, he added, everyone understands calories and can quickly find out how many are in whatever they are consuming, making it far easier to market.

Forsyth said: "The younger generation increasingly focuses on calories when drinking; people are more likely to reduce their home alcohol consumption due to it being high in calories rather than for health concerns."

He added calorie-focused marketing was behind the success of US alcohol brand Skinnygirl Cocktails, which is now releasing wines with the boast that they only have 100 calories per serving as opposed to the normal levels of up to 150 calories.

Forsyth said the wine industry should also consider offering a bigger choice in smaller bottles of wine, where winemakers will also benefit from great margins.

He added: "Wine in smaller packages is more appealing than low-calorie wine. Wine needs to offer a half or a 50cl bottle as wine is still about sharing."

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