New Zealand overtakes Germany in UK wine sales

New Zealand is claiming to have overtaken sales of German wine in the UK when looking at country of origin percentage shares.

It points to the latest Nielsen data (MAT end March 2010)which shows New Zealand has a 3.3% share of the UK off-trade market and overtaken Germany for the first time. New Zealand's value share shows a MAT growth of 4.6% of country of origin share - up over 1% since December 2009.

This makes it the fastest growing country of origin showing volume gains of up 57% with an average retail price at £6.05 per bottle.

David Cox, New Zealand Winegrowers European director said: "Whilst I am aware that some discount price activity has influenced some aspects of this fantastic performance, nonetheless, our continued value growth and our high average retail price, which has actually grown for red wines, confirm the fact that UK consumers are continuing their affection and loyalty to the incredibly interesting wines that are being made from New Zealand".