Port exports hit a five-year low in 2008, with the global economy being blamed for the fall.
According to the Port Wine Institute (IVDP), exports last year dropped more than 5% to 9.9m cases. The figures also showed a 7.1% fall in value to €375m (£335).
Tough economic times were blamed for the downturn as retailers reduced stock levels.
'In 2008 we saw major supermarkets left with stock from 2007 and ordering less while in good times they are happy to run with the extra stock,' said Adrian Bridge, managing director of the Fladgate Partnership, which owns the Croft, Taylor's and Fonseca Port houses.
Bridge also claimed that disruption caused by a VAT cut in the UK – from 17.5% to 15% – had seen Port sales 'fall off a cliff'.
Most Port producers claim they need to attract young people to the category to halt its continued decline.
'We need to reinvent ourselves,' said Francisco de Sousa Ferreira, a director of Sogrape.
New products including Croft Pink and Niepoort's Junior range aim to bring new consumers to the category.
The drop in Port exports is part of a wider long-term decline in the fortified category.
Have your say... To post your comment on this story, email us at news@decanter.com, making sure the relevant headline is in the subject field
Port – exit stage starboard. The writing has been on the wall for years, along with the pre-dinner stickies. Producers should have reinvented themselves a long time ago.
Terence Lyons
Re: my quotes.
I said that there was market disruption caused by the UK Government lowering VAT as they simultaneously increased (again) UK duty just at the critical period when retailers were launching their Christmas promotions. After the initial confusion Port sales then continued as normal.
Had the article included my comments on The Nielsen Company rolling MAT figures to 27 December, the picture painted would have been very different - showing an increase of 1% in value and a decline of -3% in volume.
Around 30% of Port sales (262,000 x 12 bottle cases) occur in the final 4 weeks to Christmas (total annual sales 873,000 x 12 bottle cases). The article was based entirely around IVDP shipment data which takes no account of retail stock levels yet does reflect the decline in the value of sterling. What is of importance here is not the level of stock in the trade but rather that consumers are continuing to buy Port.
Our own brands performed particularly well during the Christmas period and are growing ahead of the market. There was less Port sold on promotion, which accounted for the drop in volume, but the value rose for key brands like Taylor's First Estate, Taylor's LBV, Croft Triple Crown during this period and there was strong trading in the impulse sector across all three brands.
The picture is definitely not the gloomy one featured in Rebecca's article. In a declining Fortified market, Port still bucks the trend as it has for years. It is an industry that continues to reinvent itself attracting new consumers to the category whilst rewarding drinkers with exceptional quality that is still greatly undervalued. We are glad to see that Rebecca has acknowledged our contribution to innovation with Croft Pink in her article.
Adrian Bridge, Managing Director of The Fladgate Partnership
Croft Pink looks like a charming and well-designed product, and I commend the effort to fight for a piece of the "Generation Y" market. But surely it would have been easier to go after young men, as opposed to women? If I may be permitted to generalise, men tend to be less concerned with high alcohol and would generally show a stronger preference for "big" wines than women.
I think the marketing brains and sensory panels at Croft need to get together and design, and then disseminate, a sexy "Croft Pink" cocktail that will encourage the ladies to make a foray into the Port category.
Paul J. Kiernan, Dublin
Register on decanter.com absolutely free for news alerts delivered direct to your email inbox, and our fortnightly newsletter with advance notice of what’s coming up in Decanter magazine, offers, competitions and more.
PLUS registration is a one-stop shop for the Decanter magazine Archive and Decanter Fine Wine Tracker.
Port – exit stage starboard. The writing has been on the wall for years, along with the pre-dinner stickies. Producers should have reinvented themselves a long time ago.
Croft Pink looks like a charming and well-designed product, and I commend the effort to fight for a piece of the "Generation Y" market. But surely it would have been easier to go after young men, as opposed to women? If I may be permitted to generalise, men tend to be less concerned with high alcohol and would generally show a stronger preference for "big" wines than women.
