Specialists take brunt of sales dips
Half the top 50 brands lose ground over year
The multiple specialists are seemingly always in the process of
painstaking efforts to re-engineer their wine ranges. If the Nielsen stats are anything to go by, there is clearly a lot more tinkering to be done: a 3% decline in a market that's rising by 5% is not good news, whichever way you look at it.
The multiple specialists are calculated to have £482 million-worth of wine sales, down from £495 million a year ago. The figure equates to a little over 10% of the off-trade wine market.
Seven of the top 10 brands saw their sales fall in the specialist sector - a pretty horrendous state of affairs - and, in fact, only half the brands in the top 50 saw growth of any kind.
Market leader Gallo retains its crown, but only because its sales decline was not as severe as that reported by leading challenger Blossom Hill. Even Fiordaliso, which catapulted itself from nowhere to third position in last year's chart, suffered a 12% downturn as Threshers shoppers found other ways of entertaining themselves.
The gloom should not disguise some star performances: First Cape breaks into the top 10 after managing to double its sales , and Echo Falls marches up the
table with a
133% upturn. There are impressive showings from some of the big-name brands, such as Concha y Toro, Villa Maria, Campo Viejo and Banrock Station, but beyond that
the growth is coming from such a small base
it would be misguided to get too enthusiastic .
The New World dominates , taking just over two-thirds of the places available, and Fiordaliso does not seem in immediate danger of being joined in the top 10 by a fellow European brand. Campo Viejo perhaps has the best chance of achieving this - it was in ninth place as recently as 2006 and has sales value not far behind Echo Falls in 10th position.
To achieve success in the multiple specialist sector requires considerably fewer sales than would be necessary to make a big splash in the supermarkets, or in the market as a whole. For example, the sales required by Gallo to take the top position in the specialists would only get it to 16th spot in the multiple grocers' chart (where Oyster Bay currently resides) or 18th position in the overall league table (Montana's 2008 home).
Missing in action this year are Babich, Santa Rita, NXG, Montes and Sileni. Also gone from this year's chart is Piat d'Or - a brand that led the market in 1988.
Twenty years is a long time in drinks retailing - and many in the multiple specialist sector will be all too aware of how much things can change in just 12 months.
Top 50 wine brands in multiple specialists
Position
Brand Change % Position Brand Change %
Year to 14 June 2008 (Position in OLN Wine Report 2007 in brackets)
1 (1)
Gallo
-13
2
(2)
Blossom Hill
-14
3
(3)
Fiordaliso
-12
4
(4)
Hardys
-10
5
(5)
Jacob's Creek
-20
6
(7)
Wolf Blass
1
7
(6)
Stowells
-34
8
(16)
First Cape
102
9
(8)
Montana
-9
10
(23)
Echo Falls
133
11
(10)
Concha y Toro
19
12
(9)
Villa Maria
11
13
(11)
Campo Viejo
17
14
(12)
Lindemans
0
15
(14)
Oyster Bay
3
16
(17)
Torres
14
17
(15)
Georges Duboeuf
1
18
(25)
Banrock Station
40
19
(-)
Arrival*
-42
20
(13)
Louis Jadot
-19
21
(20)
Errazuriz
-5
22
(-)
McGuigan
9
23
(19)
Vineyard X
-9
24
(-)
Barefoot
171
25
(-)
Southbank
156
26
(35)
JP Chenet
24
27
(27)
Louis Latour
-5
28
(26)
Flinders
-16
29
(22)
Faustino
-23
30
(29)
La Châsse du Pape
-3
31
(28)
Cuvée de Richard
-12
32
(21)
Kumala
-25
33
(38)
Porta
33
34
(32)
Penfolds
-7
35
(37)
Coldridge Estate
2
36
(39)
Neblina
7
37
(-)
Fairview Estate
69
38
(-)
Canti
175
39
(44)
Marqués de la Concordia
4
40
(-)
Cantina Breganze
66
41
(48)
Berberana
33
42
(-)
Rocco Bay
97
43
(45)
Oxford Landing
0
44
(41)
Pasqua
-8
45
(42)
Santa Rita
-4
46
(-)
Nobilo*
-19
47
(-)
Cono Sur
26
48
(-)
Stoneleigh
103
49
(-)
Marqués de Griñon
20
50
(40)
Robertson
-19
