The consumption frequency of sparkling wine is almost double that of champagne, with 10% of adults consuming sparkling wine at least once a month and just 6% of adults consuming champagne with this frequency, both of which are unchanged year-on-year.
Recent research carried out on behalf of Retail Intelligence by Empathy Research, amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,027 adults aged 18+, sought to understand the dynamics at play in both of these categories and to what extent there may be some cannibalisation by consumers across both categories.
There are almost 1 in 7 (15%) sparkling wine drinkers who have reduced the amount of sparkling wine they are consuming, (marginally down from 17% last year), with just 1 in 8 (12%) claiming to have increased over the same period (marginally up from last year 11%).
For champagne we have recorded a reduction in the proportion of champagne drinkers who claim they have reduced the amount of champagne they are drinking. Last year, just over 1 in 5 (21%) champagne drinkers claimed to have reduced the amount of champagne they were drinking, the figure for this year is 16%.
Key reasons for any increase in the amount of sparkling wine being consumed is down to several key areas. The drink is deemed to be refreshing (35%) with a quarter (25%) claiming they are drinking more sparkling wine because more of their friends are consuming also.
The reduction in sparkling wine consumption is because they have lost their taste for sparkling wine up from 41% last year to 45% this year, with 1 in 5 (18%) claiming it contains too much sugar, in line with figures from last year (20%). Amongst those who have decreased consumption of champagne in the past year, almost 4 in 10 (37%) claim they have done so because champagne has become too expensive.
For further information and more in-depth analysis on consumer behaviour within the champagne and sparkling wine category, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
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