Premium re-focus bears fruit for Concha y Toro

The sales value of South American wine producer Concha y Toro’s brands have risen in the past 12 weeks owing to a renewed focus on premium tiered products.

CyT, which produces Casillero del Diablo, Trivento and Cono Sur, has seen “sizeable value growth” in the new, premium-positioned wines that sit above its more established ranges.

Casillero del Diablo has shown 16% value growth overall, according to commercial director Claire Griffiths, “and the new premium Reserva Especial Cabernet Sauvignon, introduced in 2018, has contributed 7% of absolute value growth from a single sku.”

“This is mirrored with Cono Sur, where the Reserva Especial and 20 Barrels tiers together account for roughly 10% of Cono Sur’s value share, but 21% of the value growth in that brand.”

“This is really positive both for our brands and for our customers, to see more value injected into the category from encouraging the consumer to trade up,” Griffiths said.

The Chilean wine giant saw the value of its wine sales rise 8% in the first quarter of 2019, following its move to focus on higher worth priority brands, but net profit fell nearly 1% (0.9%) over the year on the back of higher wine costs and restructuring.

Casillero del Diablo has also hit its record household penetration figure in the UK at 9.1%, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

When it comes to Argentine brand Trivento, its Private Reserve Malbec, introduced in 2017, now accounts for 20% of the value growth in the label as a whole. Private Reserve’s sales grew over 107% in the past 12 months compared to the same period last year, and is outstripping Trivento’s positive value growth of 34.7%.