by Ronald de Groot
Figures published by Vinexpo and sourced from its bureau for market research, IWSR, show that, although growth will slow down, wine consumption in the Netherlands will continue to progress over the coming years. Sales rose 14% in volume from 2001
until 2005. From 2005 until 2010 further growth of 6.5% in volume is foreseen. Value growth will be marginally greater.
Red wines will benefit (+3.6%) much more the whites (+0.3%), which means that the latters market share, currently 37.5%, will fall. Recent Nielsen figures show that rosé s market share has grown to 13.5%. That figure should remain constant or even grow slightly.
In terms of consumption per capita, Belgium is the only non-wine-producing country with a higher average intake. The Belgiums are forecasted to drink 34 litres per head in 2010, against 30 for the Netherlands. This means that Belgium will rank #10 and the Netherlands at #11 in wine consumption per capita.
On the supply side, a further rise of imports of South African wines (+65%) is foreseen. Despite a fall of 6%, France still ranks as Holland s largest supplier.
In terms of total wine imports, the Netherlands rank 4th in the world, after Germany, UK and USA. By 2010 imports should reach 3.8 million hectolitres, up 6.5% from today s volume. 99.9% of Dutch consumption is imported wine. In the United States only 27% of total wine consumption is imported.
