Rueda also moves up to second place in the on-trade sector with a market share of 8.9%, making it the consumers’ first choice white wine.
AC Nielsen has presented the Rueda appellation’s wineries with its 2009 survey of the Spanish wine market, in which it shows the appellation’s continuing positive trend despite the very negative context in the wine sector as a whole. Whilst the still wine market in general fell by 1.9%, and the market for appellation wines by 1.5%, Rueda appellation wines performed better in 2009, growing by 4.9% compared with the previous year.
Though this growth figure is lower than in other years (in 2008 the figure was +9.7%) the positive trend is nevertheless maintained. Analysis of the last 10 years shows that sales of Rueda appellation wines have multiplied by 8.2.
Rueda wines now represent 5.9% of all Spanish appellation wines sold on the domestic market and maintain their position as 5th leading appellation, only trailing such appellations as Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Valdepeñas and Navarra, and with the difference that those regions sell mostly red wines that make up some 72% of the market, whereas Rueda specialises in white wines (20% of the domestic wine market).
One interesting fact is Rueda’s second position in the Spanish domestic market’s on-trade sales (hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafés), moving up from 8.2% in 2008 to 8.9% in 2009 and placing Rueda only behind Rioja and ahead of such appellations as Ribera del Duero, Navarra and La Mancha. In the off-trade, the Rueda appellation maintains its growth, rising from 2.4% to 2.8% in 2009, making this sector the object of future growth plans, since for appellation wines overall this was the only sector that experienced growth (+6.2%) reflecting the current economic situation as well as changing wine consumer habits with consumption moving more towards the home and with wine purchasing taking place more at retailers (off trade).
All of these new statistics strengthen the Rueda’s appellation’s position as the leading producer of Spanish appellation white wines; and with its market share of 29.1%, it is widening the gap with its main competitor, Rias Baixas which, with a market share of 12.6%, has declined by 3.6%. Among all white wine appellations in the on-trade sector, Rueda now makes up 39%, making it the undisputed leader in that sector. In the off-trade sector, it has a 16% market share, having grown by 25.6%.
Those areas with the highest sales of Rueda wines are the northern-central zone (38.3% of sales), central Spain (16.9% of sales) and the Madrid area (16.1%). More wine from the Rueda appellation is sold in those three areas than any other appellation’s wine. Rueda’s sales are lowest in eastern Spain (the Valencia and Murcia regions) and southern Spain (Andalusia), where Rueda lost ground in 2009. For this reason the Rueda Control Board has planned promotional events in those markets to help reverse that trend.
In conclusion, and in the opinion of AC Nielsen, the wines of the Rueda appellation have now become the benchmark in quality white wines in the Spanish domestic market and are today perceived by consumers as wines of consistent reliability, helping Rueda to outperform its competitors, especially during hard economic times when consumers are less inclined to try those wines that offer no guarantees of quality. Rueda’s strong growth in the off-trade sector should also be underlined, reflecting changing consumers’ habits, moving away from the hotel and restaurant trade towards consumption at home and where the good value for money of Rueda wines augurs well for future sales growth.