UK has become world's biggest wine importer
The UK has become the world's biggest consumer of imported wine, according to a trade body which pointed to pubs' importance in introducing new consumers to wine.
Research conducted by the International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) on behalf of the organisers of trade show Vinexpo revealed that we became the biggest importer of wine and sparkling wine by volume in 2007, when imports reached 135.8 million 9-litre cases (equivalent to 1.6 billion bottles).
IWSR said that UK wine consumption grew more than 12 per cent between 2003 and 2007, and predicted that it will have grown a further six per cent by 2012.
However, the UK only figures at number 13 in a table ranking consumption per head. It is this that points to the potential for new drinkers to be introduced to wine, a process in which pubs are crucial, according to Vinexpo chief executive Robert Beynat.
"There are a lot of people not drinking wine simply because they are not confident about it," he said. "The challenge is keeping the magic but getting rid of the mystery. The main challenge in the pub is cost and quality, accessible serves. Wine by the glass, which should be a common serve in the pub, is a good thing. The current financial crisis will only accelerate these trends."
White wine is most popular in the UK with rosé wine rising fast and red wine falling back.
In 2008, we were estimated to have drunk more than 764 million bottles of white wine in the UK. That number is forecast to rise to 823 million over the next five years. In the same period, consumption of rosé wine is forecast to rise more than 47 per cent from 150 million bottles to 220 million bottles. Consumption of red wine is forecast to fall from 720 million bottles last year to 687 million in 2012.
The top five suppliers to the UK market are, in order, Australia, France, USA, Italy and Spain. Except for France, which showed a fall in wine exports to the UK, other wine producing nations increased their volumes of still and sparkling wine. The USA showed the biggest rise, with UK imports growing by 34.5 per cent from 2003 to 2007.
