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From Our Research
The data presented in our recent webinar came from a survey of 1000 wine consumers, 50% Core (drink wine at least once a week), 50% Marginal (drink wine less often). They were asked a variety of questions on the subject of nutrition and ingredient labeling, for a variety of foods & beverages but focusing mainly on wine, beer, hard seltzer and RTD cocktails. Questions covered awareness/importance of such labels, reaction to typical ingredients and a sample wine nutrition label, and perception of the amount and types of ingredients or nutritional aspects of the four beverages.
On the basic question of how important ingredients were to wine consumers, the various types of alcoholic drinks came out significantly lower than for food or other beverages (see chart below). Among the four beverage alcohols tested, wine came out slightly ahead of RTDs, beer and hard seltzer.
However, it is important to note that when it came to wine, the ingredients consumers were looking for most often included grape variety, alcohol level and indicators of sugar/sweetness. (For beer it included types of hops, and for spirits & beer type of grain.) In other words, some of the interest in ingredients is related more to assessing flavor and strength than the typical wellness-related use of FDA labels on food. When it came to whether ingredient labeling should be required, the order was somewhat different:
- Wine – 38% Yes, 25% No, 37% Indifferent
- Beer – 42% Yes, 19% No, 39% Indifferent
- Hard Seltzer – 57% Yes, 12% No, 31% Indifferent
- Ready-to-Drink Cocktails – 60% Yes, 12% No, 28% Indifferent
The reason for the different attitudes towards requirement or regulation probably traces to the different perceptions wine consumers have of these drinks. Wine (and to a lesser extent beer ) are seen as having few ingredients compared to hard seltzer or RTD cocktails.
For these and other insights, in total and broken down by demographics and wine consumer segment, please see our full report, available in the Member Resources page after logging in.
WEBINAR FOR WINE MARKET COUNCIL MEMBERS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH THE MEMBER LOGIN PAGE
From Thursday, December 8th
What Consumers Think About Ingredient and Nutrition Labels on Wine
Wine Market Council presented an exclusive webinar for members, featuring our latest consumer research on consumer perceptions and understandings of ingredient and nutrition labeling on wine. Christian Miller, WMC Director of Research, reported on the results of our recent study. Justin McGuirk, Senior Counsel for the Wine Institute, explained where the wine industry is in the legislative process; and Jeannie Bremer, Vice President of Compliance and Public Policy for The Wine Group, explained what this means for individual wineries.
With new national and international regulations on the horizon, and activists from various sectors staking out positions, we feel it is critical for our members to know how wine consumers feel about ingredients and nutritional information on wine and competitive products. The results may surprise you.
We have completed and posted the research report for WMC members on this important and timely topic. The survey was conducted in September and October of 2022, on 500 core and 500 marginal wine consumers, distributed closely by gender and age to the U.S. standards established by the WMC Benchmark Segmentation Study in 2021-22.
The webinar covered key highlights from the research, including:
• To what extent consumers say their purchases are influenced by ingredients or nutrition in wine, in comparison to a variety of other products
• Perceptions of the number and type of ingredients in wine, and reactions to two typical wine ingredient lists
• Knowledge of, and interest in, ingredient or nutrition labeling standards for wine
• Preconceptions of nutritional content of wine vs. reaction to a hypothetical nutrition label for a typical dry wine
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