Aldi launches low calorie Prosecco

Detoxing from the relentless race to launch gargantuan bottles of fizz over Christmas, challenger grocer Aldi has added another low calorie Prosecco to its portfolio.

The La Gioiosa Colleziona Oro Prosecco, priced at £8.99, contains 63 calories per glass, 23 calories below the average Italian sparkler according to Drinkaware.

The discount grocer created a media storm in September when it released a six-litre bottle of Prosecco in the run-up to Christmas. The La Gioiosa is a “drier style of the Italian sparkling wine,” according to Aldi containing half the amount of sugar as an average bottle. The grocer claims it is the lowest-calorie Prosecco in UK supermarkets.

Aldi sold 17 million bottles of wine, Champagne and Prosecco over the festive period, boosting overall grocery sales in December to nearly £1 billion.

The new Prosecco comes after a 2017 report by the EU Commission invited drinks companies to present a self-regulatory proposal within one year that would show calorie and nutrition labelling on alcoholic beverages. The proposal came as a means to give wineries and breweries the opportunity to regulate their own products without being handed a labelling system.

Since the report was released a number of producers in the EU and overseas have begun to apply calorie labelling to their beverages, as well as bolstering their low calorie ranges.

“We know that our shoppers are passionate about their Prosecco, having seen sales increase for fizz year on year, but also recognise that the trend for lower-calorie drinks is becoming increasingly popular,” Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, said.

The founders of Swedish cider brand Kopparberg recently launched an “alcohol-infused sparkling water” brand in the UK’s retail sector to capitalise on the growth of low-sugar drinks.

AB InBev added prominent nutritional information to its popular lager Bud Light earlier this month, making it the first beer brand in the US to do so.