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According to a survey conducted by the market researchers of Wine Intelligence in ten states, 40 percent of the consumers surveyed rate wine as a natural product that is free of all additives. For organic wines, this figure rises to 66 percent. The majority of respondents believe that high-quality wines do not contain any additives at all, while 25 percent suspect them in cheap wines. 42 percent are of the opinion that wines with additives are bad for health However, the labelling of ingredients on wine labels hardly influences the purchase decision. The prerequisite for this is that consumers are told that additives maintain the quality of the product. Consumers in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Sweden, USA, Russia, Australia and Japan who drink wine at least once a month were surveyed. 11,533 people answered the online questionnaire.
Wine Intelligence further found that 62 percent of consumers would continue to buy a wine they know, regardless of additive information on the label. A short list of ingredients, for example: "Grapes 99 %, preservative (sulphites), antioxidant (L-ascorbic acid)" even increased the willingness to buy the bottle in most countries - especially France. The Wine Intelligence market researchers interpret this as an indication that consumers would appreciate greater transparency of the product. Only in Italy and Japan did naming the ingredients lead to a decrease in purchase intention.
According to the results, it seems particularly important to explain the purpose of the additives for wines that are unknown to the respondents. Thus, the mere listing of agents such as ascorbic acid, potassium sorbate, tartaric acid, tannin, gum arabic etc. lowers the willingness to buy. 28 percent of consumers would buy wines labelled in this way, 13 percent would not and 59 percent would be unsure. Acceptance is highest in Anglo-Saxon countries (Great Britain, USA, Australia), lowest in Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia. However, if the substances are explained according to their function as preservatives ('ingredients used to preserve wine') or as stabilisers ('ingredients used to maintain the quality of wine'), the willingness to buy increases significantly again.
The labelling of ingredients on wine labels will become mandatory from 8 December 2023.
(al / Source: vitisphere: Photo: 123rf)