As American society becomes increasingly more fast-paced and hectic, fewer families are sitting down together for dinner. This may not a positive sign for American wine consumption as few people open up a bottle of wine to drink with their drive-thru or take-out dinners.
On a more positive note, the American population is aging, and older, more affluent people tend to enjoy wine more than other demographic groups. Hopefully they will pass their appreciation of wine to the next generation.
In many ways, the history of wine consumption in the U.S. is a microcosm of both the positives and negatives that have come with the innate American experience. Studying the history of wine consumption in the U.S. illuminates the political, cultural, religious, and racial diversity that has made the nation what it is today.
America has a relatively small but growing population of wine-lovers. Although the number of regular wine drinkers are far from being a majority, they will continue to grow as the population ages. Future trends will probably include an increase in consumption of quality varietals grown in specific, terroir-driven locations.
Wine enjoyment is symtomatic of relaxation, and these days American society is anything but relaxed. The history of wine is also synonymous with stable family relationships, and the divorce rate in the U.S. is currently about 50% and now we have an economy in flux with a holiday period that looks to be challenging at best given the political uncertain government response to health care, budget contraints, unemployement etc. What is next for wine in the US economy? For the savy marketers it is still a catagory that is growing.
WTN Services is seeing growth among those opportunistic in the wine space. Those viewing the challenge of market softness as an opportunity to review staffing, process improvement and use of new technologies are those that are growing or will in the long run. We see a consolidation of some businesses in the market. We see some competitors remaking themselves, filing bankruptcy and teetering. We see others consolidating their operations into others. We see many changes in the months ahead post harvest and post holiday.
What will the holidays and new year present to your wine brands? The strong will get stronger, the innovators will prevail. Wise decisions on partnerships today will yield results tomorrow and the months immediately after. WTN Services is positioned for growth and solid partnerships for this holiday and the months and years to follow.