Wine consumption
in the United States is projected to rise for the
15th consecutive year in 2007, after a 4% gain in
2006, reports the Washington Post . US could overtake
France as the leading per capita consumer in a few
years.
Citing estimates from the 2007 wine
market report by Impact Databank, the Post says consumption
will reach a record 304 million cases this year.
That will place the United States ahead of Italy in
per-capita consumption for the first time, trailing
only France. At the current rate of growth, Americans
will overtake the French by 2015.
Wine consumption in the US is forecast to reach 860
million gallons ( 1 gallon=4.5 liters) in 2011 based
on growth of 3.7% per year, driven by rising per capita
wine consumption, favorable demographics, perceived
health benefits, growth in wine tourism and direct-to-consumer
wine shipments.
Per capita wine consumption in the US is expected
to reach 3.8 gallons in 2011 based on annual increases
averaging 2.6% from 3.4 gallons in 2006, according
to Freedonia's recent report Focus on Wine.
The Post quotes analysts as saying reasonably priced
domestic, South American and Australian wines will
continue to be attractive to US consumers, but European
wines, with the drop in the value of the dollar, will
lose some appeal: They will rise in price by 10% to
as much as 30% in the coming year.
This should benefit companies such as Australia's
Casella Brands, with its top-selling Yellow Tail brand.
Also well placed are Constellation Brands and E&J
Gallo Winery, which hold strong positions in both
the retail and restaurant markets.
Source:http://www.researchrecap.com
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