Trends

According to Viinilehti

The finnish trade magazine Viinilehti observes the growth in sales of organic wines.

Nonexistent in the rays there a few years, organic wines now increased by 20% per year (sales volume), while the growth of wine in general is 1% per year.

According to Ubifrance 2012

• Organic viticulture is beginning to attract more interest among Finnish consumers who report very close with nature. Indeed, sales of products organic and fair trade products are growing. During the first half of 2013, Alko sold 1.9 million liters (+16% by compared to 2011) and there was a range of 206 references in stores.

• Bottles with screw caps are widely used in Finland.

• The popularity of the package “bag in box” from 1.5 to 3 liters continues. “Bag-in-box” wines represent 20% of the wine sales in Alko.

• And new forms of packaging for liquor develop, such as the bottle recyclable plastic.

According to Ubifrance 2013

• Sales of sparkling wines have doubled since the 2000s in Finland. They now introduce into the ” afterwork ” instead of beer and table during meals. They are not only consumed as an aperitif or for a toast. France is very well positioned in this segment with 22 % market share , it is the second Alko provider. 93% of wine sold in this segment are sparkling wines other than Champagne .

• Rosé wines interested more and more Finns. Sales actually increased 3% in 2012. This type of wine is currently considered a summer drink.

According to Viini-Web and Wine Business International, June 2007

What are the Finns wine drinking habits?

• Consumption of wine only represents 15% of the total alcohol consumption in Finland.

• Wine sales represents 25% of the total sales of Alko.

• In terms of red wine, Finns usually prefer wine coming from Chile, Spain, France and Italy, which concern 80% of the total wine sales.

• Finns are usually ready to invest up to around 10€ in a bottle of wine. Wines that cost under 10€ represent about 95% of wine sales.

• Finns have been really started to consume wines in the mid 1980s. Since then, sales have been increasing a little bit more each year.

• When Finland adopted Euro, wine prices increased and a new consumption trend began. Whereas Finns were consuming more like off-dry white wines in the 1990s, they prefer now red wines, especially because they tend to be cheaper than white wines.

• There are 2 main peak seasons in terms of wine sales in Finland.The first one comes with the ski season, in early Spring and the second one comes in summer with the midnight sun.