Delhaize Luxembourg has announced that it is launching the 2022 edition of its Wine Fair on Thursday 17 February.
During this latest Delhaize Wine Fair, which will run from 17 February to 16 March 2022, the supermarket brand will highlight the talent and work of women in the industry. A selection of female winemakers, buyers and wine experts will therefore be featured in the brochure of the 2022 edition. Delhaize will also use this event as an opportunity to review market trends and innovations.
2020 was an exceptional year of growth for wines and sparkling wines. Whilst COVID-19 remained dominant last year (mainly in the first quarter), the growth experienced in 2020 continued with a 3% increase in 2021 for wines and sparkling wines. Champagne sales increased by 17% compared to the previous year. Prosecco is growing in importance in the sparkling wine category, with a 16% increase in volumes compared to the previous year.
According to Delhaize, following the growth of the past two years, it is difficult to anticipate their customers' response. The catastrophic harvest, mainly in Burgundy and Loire, will also have an impact on the market.
In 2020, Delhaize launched a new approach for its wine fair. Under the slogan "Combine with your eyes closed", the brand offered its customers a selection of flagship products and their ideal food pairing for inspiration. This approach proved successful and met customers’ expectations, according to Delhaize, since many Luxembourg residents stayed at home and tried out these food and wine pairings as well as the proposed recipes on the Delhaize website.
This success was confirmed in 2021 and Delhaize has now decided to repeat the experience in 2022, with an extra dimension: a nod to women in the industry. A selection of female winemakers, buyers and wine experts are featured in the brochure of the new edition.
In 2021, Delhaize recorded a 15% sales increase of bag-in-box wine compared to the previous year, which had already registered a significant sales uplift. This concept is proving increasingly popular among the public, with more than 500,000 pouches sold. The innovations launched last year were also successful: Delhaize sold more than 120,000 canned wines, more than 4,000 wines in paper bottles and more than 30,000 Barrik bag-in-boxes.
Moreover, last year saw Delhaize implement more regional differences in its assortment between northern and southern Luxembourg. The brand noted a significantly higher consumption of white wines in the north. In this region, Delhaize has reduced the proportion of Bordeaux wines in its stores and has given priority to more white and rosé wines, although it has not noticed a negative impact on the share of Bordeaux wines (2% increase during the last two years). In the south of Luxembourg, Delhaize observed mainly an increase in the share of consumption of non-alcoholic wines and red wines in general. New World wines remained the best sellers in the north with a share of over 70%, while the south only represented about 27%.
As every year, Delhaize also expanded its selection of Luxembourg wines and sparkling wines (10% of the total assortment).
The 2022 Delhaize Wine Fair will take place for four weeks, from Thursday 17 February to Wednesday 16 March 2022, with “buy two, get one free” and “25% off” offers on more than 200 wines, sparkling wines and non-alcoholic wines. Every week, Delhaize will also offer “buy one, get one free” deals. Additional promotions will be offered exclusively online. This edition offers the brand’s customers a selection of fifteen flagship products with food and wine pairings, focusing more on meat and cheese pairings, and introduces some beer and wine pairings.
