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May 2020

Wine sector / monthly watch may 2020

Wine news continues to be marked in this May by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The European Commission published on the 4th of May a package of exceptional measures announced on the 22nd of April, notably to help the wine sector. On the 2nd of June, the Agriculture Committee of the EP have rejected one of related delegated act (considering these measures to not enough ambitious) to put pressure to the European Commission to increase the level of flexibility.
France and Italy announced some national measures to further support the wine sector as well.

New breeding techniques / Monthly watch May 2020

In May, the European Union unveiled its Farm to Fork strategy, the agri-food component of its Green Deal. Genetic engineering is timidly included, with reference to the European Commission’s ongoing study on the potential of new genomic techniques to improve sustainability throughout the food supply chain.

Italian wines: sales decline of 20 to 25% expected this year

The wine sector in Italy, the world’s largest producer by volume, is expected to record a drop in turnover of 20 to 25% this year due to the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic, according to an estimate by the study center of Mediobanca bank published Tuesday. This would represent a drop in turnover of around 2 billion euros.

The French government announces a new support program for the wine sector

The French government has announced 30 million euros more to support the wine sector in addition to the 140 million announced on May 1st. The measures include: the opening of a private storage aid measure in the amount of 15 million euros for 2Mhl complementary to crisis distillation; an increase in the crisis distillation envelope of 5 million euros for the purchase prices set at 78 € / hl for PDO / IGP wines and at 58 € / hl for others; aid to distilleries of up to 40 € / hlap for a total envelope of 10 million euros.

Spanish wine exports increase despite pandemic

According to the latest Oemv report (Observatorio español del mercado del vino), in March 2020, the turnover of Spanish wine exports increased by 0.6%, to 217.9 million euros, thanks to a average price increase of 4.4%, to € 1.35 / liter.