Wine Supply Chain Trends for 2022: Five Things to Watch

It’s definitely not a Dry January in our blog. As we’re gearing up for next week’s Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, we thought we’d write about wine all month. And what better way to start than to look at wine supply chain trends for 2022?

Before we start, though, we want you to know that we have some complimentary passes for the Symposium (first come, first served). Head over to our sign-up page to find out more. If you attend the show, visit us at Booth 807. Our fellow Antares Vision Group member companies FT System and Applied Vision will be there too. Plus, we’re giving away a few bottles of fine Italian wine.

Now, on to five wine supply chain trends for 2022 (in no particular order).

Consumers will try new things from lesser-known regions

Last year, many wine drinkers may not have been able to find the bottles they wanted. The main culprits were shortages and, um, bottlenecks in the supply chain. People also stocked up on their favorites whenever they had the chance.

As a result, industry experts say that 2022 will be the year consumers expand their palates, trying wines from different regions and makers. This may not necessarily be by choice, but people will adapt to the circumstances. For example, shortages of champagne will make sparkling wines the go-to for those special occasions. And if burgundy isn’t on the shelves, reds from Chile and South Africa could fill the void.

Less expensive wines, more compelling stories

It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time: Consumers want better value and expect companies to be forthright about how they make their products. And if a brand doesn’t deliver, consumers will drop it without a second thought. Plus, they’ll probably tell their friends and post on social media too, which is never good news for brand protection and consumer engagement.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves just a bit. Less expensive wines and more compelling stories. In 2022, many consumers will be trying to economize while continuing to demand transparency, accountability, and sustainability from the brands they buy. They will also expect more interaction with their brands.

For winemakers, this means supply chain traceability to build an indelible provenance for every bottle and sharing more information about all aspects of their operations, such as how they care for their vineyards, who harvests the grapes, and who crafted the wine inside the bottle.

Innovating to reclaim market share/lure younger drinkers

The rise of “wine alternatives” is a classic market success story — at least it was until the middle of last year. Sales of hard seltzer, for instance, reached $4.5 billion from May 2020 to May 2021. Though there’s been a slowdown in that segment, the fact remains that consumers were lured away from wine; in 2022, the industry will be trying to lure them back.

Winemakers will have to think outside the box to reach these consumers. New products, including “wine proxies” and organics, are one tact. Innovative marketing, such as home delivery services, more ecommerce, and hyper-targeted consumer engagement, will also be key to the wine supply chain.

“Nolo” and “natural” products

We just mentioned “wine proxies” and organics. Both have gained traction in recent years. According to IWSR, the market value of no/low alcohol (Nolo) products in 2021 reached almost $10 billion, up from $7.8 billion in 2018.

The London-based market research group also forecasts that Nolo volume will grow by 8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021 and 2025. And total Nolo volume is forecasted to grow by 31 percent by 2024. In contrast, IWSR says “regular” alcohol will grow by 0.7 percent CAGR from 2021 to 2025.

For organic wine, IWSR forecasts that the worldwide market will reach 87.5 million cases by 2022 and account for 4 percent of total consumption by 2024. Certified organic wine volume consumption, it reports, has increased an average of 9 percent annually between 2014 and 2019. The amount of certified area under vine (and in conversion) has also boomed, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France.

And though the Top 5 organic wine markets (Germany, France, the UK, Sweden, and the United States) and the Top 10 markets account for more than 60 percent and 80 percent of global consumption, respectively, the category is expected to expand into other markets.

Visibility, traceability, transparency in the wine supply chain (a.k.a. brand protection and consumer engagement)

The last two years have shown us that visibility, traceability, transparency are more important than ever and are the best way to optimize, safeguard, and leverage your supply chain for business value.

- Visibility means using data to gain insight into how your supply chain is functioning and to take steps to make it run more efficiently. The goal is to see every ingredient/input, every product, every partner, every handoff … everything.
- Transparency means communicating supply chain knowledge internally and externally so all stakeholders, including consumers, can see how you operate.
- Traceability means you can follow a product to its point of origin and prove what it is and where it came from.

For the wine industry, this trifecta is even more crucial, particularly due to the scourge of counterfeits and consumers’ ever-growing demand for accountability. Your supply chain is your No. 1 asset for brand protection and consumer engagement. We’re going to be writing more about these topics in the coming days, so check back soon. In the meantime, you can read our two-part series about traceability in the wine supply chain.

Final thoughts

So, there are five wine supply chain trends to keep an eye on in 2022. (Digitization is another; we’ll be writing about that next, so check back later this week!)

We’re truly excited about the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium. We’ll have a demo of our solutions for the wine supply chain, and FT System and Applied Vision will be exhibiting their technologies too. We do have some complimentary passes and will be giving away a few bottles of fine Italian wine, so sign up today and visit us at Booth 807. We’d love to see you!

And do come back to our blog throughout our decidedly non-Nolo January. Find out why we’re the grand cru of supply chain solutions for winemaking and grapegrowing!