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Wines from Argentina putting in 'serious effort' to drive UK growth

Published:  11 December, 2014

Wines from Argentina are enjoying a "unique time" in the UK market, and the country is putting in serious effort to drive growth, says the generic body's European head.

Wines from Argentina are enjoying a "unique time" in the UK market, and the country is putting in serious effort to drive growth, says the generic body's European head.

Andrew MaidmentArgentina's wines are enjoying a 'unique time' in the UK marketAndrew Maidment, Wines of Argentina's Europe and Asia head, said brands are upping their focus and continuing to push hard into the UK market.

Andrew Maidment, Wines of Argentina's European and Asian director, told Harpers.co.uk that Argentinian wine is "continuing to do very well [in Europe] particularly in the UK".

The WSTA's Q3 market report, which uses Nielsen MAT figures to July 19 2014, shows Argentina as a star performer, with off-trade sales up 26% by volume and 28% by value. Its average price point, at £5.86, puts it in number three position, behind New Zealand and France.

"There's a real desire to push in the UK into next year," Maidment added. More and more wineries now have full-time employees based in the UK, Maidment said, including Peñaflor, Viñalba and the Hess Family.

"We're in a bit of a unique time, that enough people are putting serious effort into this market," he said. "The door is more ajar than ever before, and now is the time to push it wide open,"

Andrew Maidment, Wines of Argentina's Europe and Asia head, believes there are opportunities for further growth in online and convenience sectors for the country.

He said the reasons behind Argentina's success were that many off-trade retailers had decided the category could be a profitable part of the business for them. "A lot of Argentinian brands have been built in the on-trade and independents. That absolutely has to continue - and keep the slightly more premium feel that's at the heart of everything we do. But anything we can do on a mass scale, at more premium pricing, is good.

Concha y Toro's Trivento brand is sponsoring Premiership rugby with its Malbec Reserve label - illustrating that the push for more premium wines is across the board, Maidment says.

The group is also partnering with app Vivino to offer a wine trip to Argentina to the person that scans the 100 millionth bottle of wine - on track to happen at some point between Christmas and the New Year. "We're the first body to work directly with them," Maidment said. He said the aim was to encourage its wineries to work with the app in the "best way they can" in order to better connect with consumers. Vivino, the brainchild of Danish duo Heini Zachariassen and Theis Sondergaard now has 7 million users, who scan wine labels using their smartphones in order to get reviews and pricing, and upload their own rankings.

Maidment said wine apps were of "strong interest" for Wines of Argentina, although UK consumers have been slower on the uptake than elsewhere in the world.

Other plans for next year include Malbec World Day, which will once again take place in April, while Argentina's consumer event Cambalache moves to September, and adopts a film theme this year.

On a European level, the generic body plans to continue with its work in Scandinavia, while increasing its focus in Germany and Russia. 

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