22 Oct WHAT’S NEW IN THE WINE INDUSTRY SINCE COVID19

The year 2020 is one to remember for many reasons. One of such reasons is the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic. The outbreak affected all aspects of life, forcing governments, businesses, and individuals to take drastic and inconvenient measures to ensure safety and reduced disease spread.

The wine industry received its fair share of the changes. Many countries enforced lockdown rules, which reduced sales for prominent actors along the wine production chain.

Despite the ease of lockdown measures globally, things have not returned to normal. Some notable changes in the wine industry since COVID19 include:

Cancellation of wine fairs: Wine fairs or wine tasting festivals are like the hallmark of wine enthusiasts. While certain wine producing nations left out wine factories from the widespread closure, others did not categorize the wine industry as an essential service.

Thus, this led to the cancellation of major fairs such as the Prowein held in Germany, Vinitaly held in Verona, Italy, and the popular London wine fair, which was supposed to hold in March 2020, was postponed. Aside from these events mentioned, all other major wine tasting fairs worldwide are either postponed or canceled.

Reduced export: When the viral disease became a global pandemic, most countries were forced to shut their borders to humans and goods. This posed unfavorable for winemakers as they had to halt production and find means of storing their products, which were already due for export. Over 20% of winemakers stopped production due to the anticipated reduction in demand.

Reduced revenue: With the closure of restaurants and bars’, social enthusiasts could no longer enjoy the joys of finely brewed wine. Some wineries were affected by the revenue loss; they had to place staff on early holidays, while some increased marketing strategies to utilize extra means of earning. Such means included price reductions, online ads, and Email marketing.

Home service options: Due to the nature of COVID19, wine retailers and users were required to reduce physical contact to the barest minimum. To achieve this, many wine retailers have resorted to home delivery to keep sales going and maintain customer relationships. This has continued post-COVID and has become quite popular with wine enthusiasts.

Sense of solidarity among winemakers and society: Despite the worrisome effects the pandemic impresses on the wine industry, there are some positives. For instance, some wine producers are donating a part of their fortune to hospitals to treat COVID19 patients.

The future remains uncertain for the wine industry as we continue to monitor the pandemic’s effects. In some countries where infection cases are reducing, life is returning to normal, and the wine market is going back to default mode.

However, many wine users and retailers are optimistic about the outcome of the future, as many importers are already pre-ordering wine brands.