Wines of Chile in the UK is thrilled by the news that according to the latest AC Nielsen data, till receipts to June 2007, sales of Chilean wine in the UK have, for the first time, exceeded those of Spanish wine. Chile now has its highest ever share of the UK retail market, 6.9%, which means that it is now sixth most important exporter of wine to the UK after Australia, France, the US, Italy and South Africa. Spanish wine sales in the UK have been in decline because sales of really cheap Spanish wine have plummeted – even though there is considerable interest in the better quality wines of Spain among British wine lovers, even if slightly less than among their American counterparts. Spain produces about seven times more wine than Chile in total.
Sales of Chilean wine in the £5 to £10 bracket – generally considered to be Chile’s greatest strength – grew by 26% over the last 12 months, and Chile now sells 14% more wine priced above £5 than South Africa. Wines of Chile’s UK Director Michael Cox claims to have South Africa, once an exporter of massive quantities of inexpensive white wine to the UK, firmly in its sights.
Official export statistics issued from Chile for the 12 months to May 2007 confirm that the UK has consolidated its position as Chile’s most important export market. Chile’s exports to the UK grew in volume by 10% to 9.86 million cases and in value by 20% to US$189 million. Total exports from Chile have exceeded a billion US dollars for the first time.
Argentina’s share of the UK market has declined to 1.4% according to AC Nielsen.