Wine Market Council Releases Consumer Consumption Habits Relevant to the 2014 Holiday Season

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Teplin+Nuss

Sep 29, 2014, 08:00 ET


St. Helena, California (PRWEB) September 29, 2014 -- Wine Market Council, the non-profit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, distributors and other affiliated wine businesses, has compiled relevant research available to any journalists covering holiday wine consumption. Below is a summary of Wine Market Council’s most recent research. For questions or additional requests for information, please contact Teplin+Nuss at contact(at)teplinnuss(dot)com.

RELEVANT WINE MARKET COUNCIL RESEARCH:

1) A Snapshot of the 230 Million Wine Consumers in the U.S: Of the 230 million adults in the U.S., Wine Market Council found that 44% drink wine. This 44% breaks down into two groups—15% who are defined as high frequency wine drinkers, that is they drink wine more often than once a week, and 29% who are occasional wine drinkers, that is they drink wine once a week or less often. This translates into approximately 34 million high frequency wine drinkers and 67 million occasional wine drinkers. Source: Wine Market Council ORC Segmentation Study, January 2014

2) The Popularity of Sparkling and Flavored Wines among High Frequency Wine Drinkers:
Besides table wine, just over one-third of high frequency wine drinkers drink sparkling wine (35%) and approximately one-quarter drink dessert wine (24%), at least monthly. Sparkling wine consumption was higher among high frequency wine consuming women than men (37% vs. 31%), and especially higher among high frequency wine consuming Millennials (61%) compared to wine drinkers of other generations (36% of Gen Xers, 22% of Baby Boomers, and 11% of those 69+). Source: Wine Market Council High Frequency Tracking Study, 2013

3) The Power of Wine Reviews among High Frequency Wine Drinkers: Wine Market Council’s most recent survey of high frequency wine drinkers (those who drink wine more often than once a week) found that the majority of high frequency wine drinkers find wine reviews important when making a decision to purchase a wine to consume at home. One-third consider wine reviews either “extremely important” (13%) or “very important” (21%). Less reliant on wine reviews are 30% of respondents who regard them as “somewhat important” and 18% who regard them as “slightly important.” Only 18% do not recognize wine reviews as important at all. Source: Wine Market Council High Frequency Tracking Study, 2013

4) The Demographic Differences in Wine Consumption Habits Between High Frequency and Occasional Wine Drinkers: A January 2014 Wine Market Council study identified the current incidence of wine drinkers among U.S. adults and provided information about how High Frequency wine drinkers (those who drink wine more often than once a week) differ from Occasional wine drinkers (those who drink wine once a week or less often, but at least 2 – 3 times a month).

The following are some of the notable differences between these two groups:

  • Most wine drinker respondents were married. However, High Frequency wine drinkers were significantly more likely to be married (63% vs. 48%) and Occasional wine drinkers more likely to be single or never married (26% vs. 14%).
  • The average annual household income of High Frequency wine drinkers was higher than that of Occasional wine drinkers ($82,900 vs. $64,600). Half of High Frequency wine consumers have annual household incomes of $75,000 or more (51%). By contrast, one-third of Occasional wine consumers reported this level of income (32%).
  • Additionally, the rate of home ownership was also higher among High Frequency wine consumers (81% vs. 66% of Occasional wine drinkers).
  • High Frequency wine drinkers skew older than occasional wine drinkers (average age of 51 vs. 44). Typically, Wine Market Council has focused on generations and their wine drinking habits, but the January study dove deeper. A look at the data by ten-year age brackets revealed that the High Frequency wine drinker pool included a larger proportion of both 60+ men (18% vs. 9% of the Occasional wine drinker pool) and 60+ women (18% vs. 11% of the Occasional wine drinker pool), while the Occasional wine drinker segment was made up of a larger proportion of young, 21 – 30 year old, women (15% vs. 5%).
  • Occasional wine drinkers skew female and younger. The average age of an Occasional wine drinker is 44 years old, compared to a High Frequency wine drinker whose average age is 51. Source: Wine Market Council High Frequency Tracking Study, 2013

About Wine Market Council Wine Market Council is a non-profit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, distributors, and other affiliated wine businesses and organizations. The council's mission is to establish the widespread acceptance of wine as a rewarding part of American culture and to report on timely issues and emerging consumer segments in the industry. Wine Market Council provides its members with consumer research that is proprietary to Wine Market Council members, who incorporate it into their strategic planning, marketing and sales execution. Wine Market Council was established in 1994 as a non-profit (501(c)(6)) trade association working through all tiers of the U.S. wine industry to grow the wine market. More information can be found at WineMarketCouncil.com and on Twitter @WineMktCouncil.

Holly Nuss, Teplin+Nuss, http://www.teplinnuss.com, 707.812.1919 Ext: 102, [email protected]