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Rosé in the Pink

Rosé is on a rampage and California is leading the charge. Encouragingly, pink prices are picking up as well as popularity.

Although it represents less than 5% of the branded wine market in multiple grocers and co-ops, rosé wine was the fastest growing sector over the past year.

The key to this growth was increased penetration. Today 15% of the UK population buy branded rosé, which is considerably fewer than the approximate 50% that buys red and white wines, but still enough to firmly establish the sector as a valuable and developing niche.

Growth in popularity often comes at a price, with average spend per buyer falling as triallists enter the market, buy once or twice and then leave. Rosé, however, has been able to boost its average spend during this same period: shoppers are not only buying rosé more often, they are buying more volume on each trip to the shops. Perhaps most significantly, prices continue to rise and have now reached an average of £5.00 a litre (£3.75 a bottle). This continued growth in the perceived value of rosé wine is a sign of its true potential.

Californian wine dominates the category and is continuing to grow. In contrast, French rosé wine is becoming less significant to the category, although it is still growing in absolute terms. This is reflected in the fall in popularity of Piat d’Or rosé. The majority of the top 10 most popular rosé wines are from the new world.

Morrisons, perhaps surprisingly, is the leading retailer of rosé wine. While Asda and Morrisons overtrade, Tesco is less of a player in rosé than it is in wine as a whole. Given the increasing popularity and value of the rosé category, this undertrading may well be something to remedy.

The rapid shifting in repertoires among this experimental group means there is a great deal of turnover in the top 10.

TNS is a leading global provider of market information. We provide research, advice and insight on market segmentation, advertising and communications, new product development and brand performance. The TNS data is based on our continuous panel of 15,000 households. TNS tracks the alcohol purchases across all major grocery multiples and coops. For further information, please contact David Buckley, business director for TNS Superpanel on 020 8967 1513.

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