India’s 2020 wine production to fall by about 20%

Wine production in India may fall 20% in 2020 owing to the reduction in availability of grapes following the erratic monsoon last year, said industry executives. Wine sales have remained flat for big players while the rest of the industry has reported 30-40% decline year-on-year for the first three quarters of this financial year mainly due to the economic slowdown.

Industry leader Sula reported no growth in overall sales for the first three quarters of the current fiscal. “Overall sales during the nine months of the current fiscal that ended in December remained flat. We are happy that the top end of our portfolio, which is the future of our business, had a positive growth,” said Karan Vasani, senior vice president, Sula Vineyards.

Yatin Patil, president of All India Wine Producers’ Association, said: “This year, wine sales have been down after the first quarter. The second and third quarters were particularly bad. October to December is the peak season for wine sales. But there was no season at all.”

Despite extending various schemes to push sales, wineries could not succeed much in getting consumers during the festive season. “Though sales at my own wineries grew nicely, overall wine sales have reduced due to the economic recession in the country,” said Pradip Pachpatil, president, Nashik Valley Wine Producers’ Association.

Pachpatil has set up a boutique winery called Somanda Vineyards next to Sula Vineyards in Nashik. “This year, the production of wine will be lower due to less availability of grapes,” he said.

Vasani of Sula said the grape crop had reduced 10-11% while the company was still evaluating the total crushing it might undertake this season. Sula started grape crushing operations in the second half of December.

Most wineries produce the cheaper grade port wines made from table grapes, when they become available at cheaper rates at the peak of the season. This year, however, wineries have completed about 10% of their overall crushing using the table grapes that became cheaper due to the damages caused by unseasonal rainfall during November 2019.

Source:- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/liquor/indias-2020-wine-production-to-fall-by-about-20/articleshow/73149689.cms

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