Wine Prices Are at an All-Time High, 66% of Grocery Shoppers Say
Wine enthusiasts are feeling the pinch these days as their favorite vintage is costing more by the drop. In fact, some are even opting for alternatives to uncorking as surging price tags call for more unconventional approaches to overpriced bottles.
A new survey by Bevinars found that among more than 500 wine drinkers, two-thirds of consumers believe that not only have prices gotten too high, but they are ready to do something about it—other than giving up their glass completely that is. While almost half of the respondents that reported feeling the pinch said that they had reduced their grape consumption at home, the other half said they were opting for cheaper bottles and more affordable boxed wine.
Although boxed wine got its fair share of snubbing from aficionados during its inception in the mid-1960s, it has recently experienced a renaissance of sorts—particularly for its ability to maintain freshness longer and allow for affordable packaging. In fact, the booming boxed vino industry has reportedly grown by 4% in 2019.
And while issues like high gas prices and other factors have affected most grocery prices, the soaring cost of glass bottles due to a shortage has caused bottled wine to become more expensive.
"While the price of wine had been relatively stable compared to the surging cost of fuel and groceries, we are now seeing wine in the crosshairs of massive inflationary pressures," said Bevinars founder Gary Oldman in a press release.
The price hikes aren't just at the grocery store, either. According to Oldman, higher-end restaurants are seeing increases of up to 20% for wine. Some customers that were surveyed have gone so far as to scan restaurant policies for "attractive BYOB" offers, according to feedback from the study.
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Bindiya Vakil, the CEO of global supply chain company Resilinc, said in an interview with Eat This, Not That!, that smaller wineries are more likely to be affected by price increases as they lack the purchasing power to secure glass bottles at a lower rate than larger wine companies.
While making hard choices may be inevitable, wine lovers may also need to get used to being creative in order to fit their favorite vino into their regular rotation. Unfortunately, Vakil says the inflated prices could last up until sometime into 2023.
