Wine Sales and Pricing on a Steady Incline

Dear Client: The table wine business improved both pricing and dollar sales growth in January (4-weeks ended Feb 5) amid rather tough comparisons to the prior year period, according to Nielsen off-premise scan data. Dollar sales grew 5.2% and volumes gained 3.9%. Dollar sales growth was higher than December's results of 4.8%, although volumes stayed the same. This is good news. Why? Not only did dollar sales accelerate in January, but the industry also raised pricing without dipping into volumes.