Oct 23, 2024 – Napa Valley, California — Wine has low visibility and been pushed to the back of drink lists in casual restaurants and appears ‘boring and tired’, according to consumers interviewed for a new Wine Market Council study on How to Attract Young Adults and Multicultural Consumers to Wine. The qualitative shop-along study tracked and interacted with participants via video while they were shopping for wine in casual restaurants, bars, online, and in grocery and retails shops across the U.S. The goal was to highlight or uncover what a diverse sample of under-40 consumers liked and didn’t like about wine.
“Probably one of the most surprising results,” said Dr. Liz Thach, MW, President of Wine Market Council, “was what the young adults said about wine lists in casual restaurants and bars. They described how wine is frequently listed towards the back of the beverage menu and looked boring and unappealing compared to the colorful photos and descriptions of cocktails and list of craft beers, which were organized by taste and bitterness profile.”
The qualitative shop-along study is the first half of a larger Wine Market Council study on what the wine industry needs to do to better engage young adult and multicultural consumers. It tracked 27 young adults shopping for wine in various physical and online locations across the nation and resulted in 46 hours of video footage and feedback for analysis. Though not generalizable, the results indicate areas to measure in a quantitative survey.
“The second half of the study will be a national survey, which we are developing with our research partner, Ethnifacts,” explained Christian Miller, Research Director with Wine Market Council. “The shop-along interviews allow us to identify key issues to measure in the survey, and this topic of how wine is listed in casual restaurants and bars is definitely something we need to explore in more detail. Other intriguing new findings involved difficulties in shopping, and perceptions of fruit, flavors and alcohol.”
For the on-premise wine shopping portion, young consumers were allowed to select the location. Perhaps to be expected, none of young consumers selected expensive white tablecloth restaurants with extensive wine lists and a sommelier to assist them. Instead, they chose to visit casual restaurants, sports bars, and wine bars.
“In a couple of locations, shoppers were delighted to find wine cocktails, such as an iced wine slushie, which they appreciated,” reported Mike Lakusta, CEO of Ethnifacts. “This suggests there could be an opportunity for more wineries to provide wine cocktail recipes, along with their regular wine selections.”
The shoppers also suggested that it would be useful if wineries could provide a short description of what the wine tastes like, similar to cocktail descriptions. “The wine menu too often just lists chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon and the name of a brand. That doesn’t really tell a young adult what the wine will taste like,” said Lakusta. “It’s time for the wine industry to take some initiative and work with casual restaurant and bars to make the wine list more appealing.”
The study also found that young adults shopping in grocery stores and wine shops often felt overwhelmed with the large selection of different types of wine. They pointed to simple signage in stores, such as ‘red wines this way, white wine that way’ and a ‘better for you wine section (low and no alcohol wines)’ as very helpful, but complained that not all stores had this option. They also said they appreciated stores that offered staff picks or provided a small taste of wine so they knew if they liked it enough to purchase. (However, this option is not legal in all states.)
Surprisingly, many of the young adults had not shopped for wine online before – perhaps due to the high shipping costs. But when they did so as part of the study, many enjoyed the experience. “Several compared shopping for wine online as similar to shopping for cosmetics or clothing, and they really enjoyed the ability to filter by wine color, style, varietal and prices,” stated Lakusta.
“We are excited about the results of this first half of the study,” stated Thach, “ and look forward to launching our national survey next month to gather some quantitative data. This will provide us with some statistics and clear direction on the most critical actions items the wine industry should take to better engage with young adults and multicultural consumers, in a responsible fashion.”
About Wine Market Council
Wine Market Council (WMC) is a non-profit trade organization that has been conducting research on the U.S. wine consumer for more than 25 years. Members have access to cutting-edge research on the U.S. wine consumer, along with member webinars, newsletters, access to data files and statistics, and other benefits,
Membership starts as low as $400 per year, depending on the size of your organization. Members include wineries, distributors, growers, importers, regional, national, and international trade associations, and affiliates. For more information on membership and costs, please see https://winemarketcouncil.com/join/.
