BRINGING WINE TO THE MASSES
While global interest in wine may be growing, the surge in local demand is likely driven by the population’s increasing affluence, said business and hospitality experts.
Dr Wang Peng, a business analytics lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), said that wine sales here have consistently grown, with a 5.9 per cent compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2022, reaching 15.5 million litres, according to one Canadian market intelligence report.
“A growing middle class with increased disposable income is more inclined to spend on premium and diverse wine options, driving market growth,” he said.
Many consumers turned to wine as an “affordable luxury” during the pandemic, with 45 per cent of Singaporeans reporting increased spending on alcoholic beverages, Dr Wang added.
Wine lovers said it used to be the case that people recognised only certain brands, vineyards or winemakers and tend to associate their positive reputation with quality, which is why many of these wines fetch high premiums.
But in recent years, the accessibility to wine information online has brought about a growing focus on “QPR”, or quality-price ratio, which is a measure of how much quality a bottle of wine offers in relation to its price.
This is partially due to apps like Vivino, a wine-rating platform and marketplace, in democratising wine knowledge.
The app, which has 65 million downloads across the globe, allows users to scan wine labels and instantly access reviews, ratings, and average prices and explore wines based on their taste profile.
Users can also rate the wines that they have tasted, which adds to the overall rating for the wine. This sets Vivino apart from the pantheon of wine review platforms that rely on a small number of critics who typically review wines from premium winemakers.
Vivino’s store spokesperson told CNA TODAY that its main focus of its first retail store at Raffles City is to replicate the experience of “walking into the app”. It also has a wine bar which offers some tapas and wines to drink by the bottle or the glass.
A person may not know much about wine, but the store allows them to pick up a decent bottle because they can easily see what is the Vivino rating for the bottles on sale in the store.
Supermarkets here have also up their ante, offering a wide variety of entry-level and premium labels.
A FairPrice Group spokesperson said that demand has grown for sparkling, white and rose wines, even as red wines from Australia, Chile and Bordeaux in France remain customer favourites.
FairPrice outlets also offer in-store tastings and masterclasses with product experts. Its membership scheme Just Wine Club, which offers an 8 per cent discount on wine, has seen over 20 per cent annual membership growth for the past five years.
A spokesperson for the DFI Retail Group, the parent company of brands such as Cold Storage and Giant, said there has been “significant growth” across the entire wine segment, with rising demand not only for premium brands but also for wines in the S$15 to S$20 range. Some premium options are also available in the range of S$100 to S$400 a bottle.
“During COVID-19, we saw a shift towards prioritising wine quality as customers looked to elevate their in-home experiences with finer wine. During this time, customers were looking for wines with a storied heritage and recognised branding,” said the spokesperson.
Cold Storage and CS Fresh outlets in “upscale areas” have seen a higher demand for premium wines and curated selections from boutique wineries, while stores in the heartlands report great interest in “affordably priced” wines, the spokesperson added.
One wine aficionado, Mr Tan Koon Yan, 36, said that while wine is still generally seen as a luxury good, these moves by supermarkets to stock more affordable wines makes the hobby more accessible to the mass consumer.
Said Mr Tan, who works in the shipping industry: “It’s not that out of reach anymore. It’s not something they see as something to drink only during festive seasons. Nowadays, you go to FairPrice or even Sheng Siong, the variety is so much and you don’t know what to buy.”
Besides expanding their in store and online offerings, supermarkets have also adopted a whole gamut of strategies to attract customers, spanning online subscription services, curated in-store wine bars and and wine fairs.
In 2022, the FairPrice Finest outlet at Centrepoint opened its doors with a new concept inside, the Grocer Bar, serving up wine, cheese platters and freshly-shucked oysters.
According to a catalogue of FairPrice Group stories published in 2023, in the months since the new concept opened in Centrepoint, the bar proved to be so popular that the number of seats expanded from just a few to over 40.
There are now four Grocer Bar locations across Singapore, including in the heartlands, at FairPrice Finest Century Square and FairPrice Finest Woodleigh Mall, and at a new bar at FairPrice Finest Clarke Quay which opened this year.
CNA TODAY reached out to the FairPrice Group and DFI Retail Group to inquire on customer response to such offerings so far.
