Written by: BevAlc Insights Team, February 20, 2024
In recent years, sparkling wine has broken free from its chains as consumers embrace bubbly options beyond celebratory occasions like weddings and New Year’s Eve. But no category has experienced anything near the meteoric rise of Prosecco.
In 2023, Prosecco accounted for 25 percent of the Champagne and sparkling wine category on Drizly, an increase of three percentage points from 2022, making it one of the fastest-growing wine subcategories on Drizly. Drizly’s findings are supported by extensive data from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, which shows that 48 percent of total sparkling wines consumed in the U.S. come from Italy – with the vast majority being Prosecco. In addition, IWSR data shows that the number of consumers who reported drinking Prosecco expanded from 33 percent in 2019 to 42 percent in 2023.
“The rise in share is exclusive to Prosecco,” says Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights, adding that sparkling wine overall decreased in share on Drizly during 2023, moving from 24 to 23 percent. “The two biggest trends we believe to be driving the Prosecco category growth are increased consumer price sensitivity, causing them to trade down, and the spritz cocktail trend.”
A Value-Centric Standout
Grown and crafted in the northern Italian appellation of the same name, Prosecco is made via the Charmat method, which carbonates the wine in large tanks – rather than within each bottle, as in Champagne. This variation allows Prosecco to be produced and sold at much lower prices than wines crafted using the traditional method.
On Drizly, the average unit price of Prosecco was $15.94 in 2023, roughly 70 percent lower than Champagne’s average unit price of $54.19. Prosecco was likewise significantly less expensive than the average sparkling wine on Drizly, which clocked in at $27.71 in 2023. Prosecco’s status as a category leader in terms of price and value has made the wine an increasingly desirable option in the past year amidst economic challenges and uncertainty.
Similarly, while many alcoholic beverages experienced price hikes due to inflation in recent years, the average unit price of Prosecco has remained relatively stable – increasing by just $0.91 since 2021, likely contributing to consumers’ sustained purchasing of Prosecco versus other sparkling wines.
“We do not see any signs of the Prosecco boom slowing into 2024,” says Paquette, adding that Prosecco even saw gains on New Year’s Eve 2023. The top sales date for Champagne and sparkling wine, Prosecco was up two percentage points to 17 percent on New Year’s Eve 2023.
While Champagne remains the gold standard for luxury sparkling wine, the rising quality and availability of Prosecco is directly impacting Champagne sales on Drizly. In fact, Prosecco share has been rising directly in opposition to Champagne – which saw a decline of three percentage points in 2023 – as consumers reached for lower-priced alternatives.
Sparkling Cocktails Fuel Prosecco’s Rise
Historically, Prosecco has been a key ingredient in classic Italian cocktails like the Aperol Spritz and Bellini. Many of these cocktails originated in northern Italy, just like Prosecco, contributing to Prosecco’s status as the sparkling wine of choice for classic aperitifs.
“Consumer trial of the aperitif category has seen an upward trend in recent years, with aperitifs contributing to double-digit organic sales growth for the first half of 2023 across all regions for Campari Group,” explains Andrea Sengara, the VP of marketing at Campari America, which produces the classic spritz ingredients Aperol and Campari.
Drizly data corroborates this trend, according to Paquette: “The spritz trend is definitely a factor in the Prosecco trend. With sparkling wine as a key ingredient, it becomes a more common staple rather than something just enjoyed on its own and commonly tied to celebratory occasions.”
Paquette believes the spritz craze, which capitalizes on multiple ongoing beverage consumption trends such as overall wellness trends, the rise of lower-ABV drinks, and aperitifs in general, will expand into 2024 and beyond. “The Hugo Spritz was predicted by several sources to be the cocktail of the year in 2024, so we expect to see the spritz trend continue and expand beyond just Aperol, particularly in the spring and summer months this year,” she says. “We have seen that Prosecco is the most popular sparkling wine ingredient for these cocktails and therefore has benefited the most directly from this trend.”
Profiting from Prosecco with Big Brands and Bundles
According to research from the IWSR, roughly 25 percent of American adults are now sparkling wine consumers, an increase of 17 percent since 2019. The same report showed 38 percent of sparkling wine consumers enjoying bubbly on a weekly basis, up from 22 percent in 2019. With these wines, and especially Prosecco, becoming a staple for consumers the opportunities for well-stocked retailers are exceptional.
On Drizly, the Prosecco trend is most prevalent in the Northeast. New York City, Baltimore, Boston, and New Jersey over-index on Prosecco purchasing relative to overall sales.
However, the top ten best-selling Prosecco SKUs on Drizly are widely available and boast strong brand recognition nationwide. Since 2022, these SKUs have also remained relatively stable on Drizly in terms of popularity, suggesting that retailers can gain by continuing to stock these well-known Proseccos.
Drizly’s Top-Selling Prosecco SKUs, 2023
- La Marca Prosecco Sparkling Wine
- Mionetto Prosecco Brut Sparkling White Wine
- Cupcake Vineyards Prosecco White Wine
- Ruffino Prosecco DOC Italian White Sparkling Wine
- Josh Cellars Prosecco
- 90+ Cellars Lot 50 Prosecco
- Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore DOCG
- Blu Prosecco
- La Marca Luminore Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G
- Ca’ Furlan Prosecco
“Beyond carrying the best-selling products, retailers can consider capitalizing on the factors driving these trends by positioning or recommending Proseccos as an alternative to higher-priced Champagne,” says Paquette. “Alternatively, retailers can create Spritz bundles to sell alongside popular liqueurs like Aperol or St. Germain.”
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