Wine in Belarus

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Wine benefits from a healthier, more upmarket image than other alcoholic drinks

The shift towards healthier lifestyles that has been seen in Belarus in recent years has had a positive influence on wine consumption. This is because increasingly health-aware Belarusians are tending to switch to alcoholic drinks options that are perceived as being “healthier”.

Minski Zavod Vinogradnyh remains the leading name in wine

2019 saw local wine producer Minski Zavod Vinogradnyh Vin ZAO retain its leading position in the category thanks to the significant state support that the company receives, as well as its wide assortment of products at affordable prices. Minski Zavod Vinogradnyh is typical of the several local producers that offer mainly affordable types of wine in glass bottles and in some cases liquid brick cartons, while imported brands come almost exclusively in glass bottles.

Local production quotas continue to support domestic production volumes

In addition to providing strong financial and logistics support to the local wine industry, the government of Belarus also employs local production quotas to ensure that local players remain competitive against their larger and more powerful foreign rivals. This continues to have a significantly influence over viticulture in Belarus and the country’s wine industry.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

On-trade volume sales of wine are expected to fall by 25% in 2020 in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares very unfavourably with an expected 1% rise forecast for 2020 during research conducted in May 2019, ie before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within wine

Demand for some types of wine was already under pressure prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically fortified wine and vermouth and non-grape wine, and these categories are expected to register the strongest sales declines over the course of 2020 as a result COVID-19 as well. More traditional types of wine such as still white wine and still red wine are expected to have avoided the worst of the sales declines seen in the category during the first half of 2020, with sparkling wine experiencing less severe declines than might have been expected due to the fact that these products are consumed only occasionally by the majority, with regular consumption confined to very affluent consumers, who are unlikely to have been as severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than most Belarusians.

Recovery and opportunities

The economic uncertainty that has emerged in Belarus over the course of 2020 is expected to continue having a negative impact on demand for wine over the forecast period. Although 2021 is expected to see on-trade sales rebound fully from the declines caused by COVID-19 during 2020, off-trade sales are set to continue declining due to consumers losing interest in wine, which is seen as an unnecessary luxury by many Belarusians.

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