Another Rabobank “hidden gem”, Mexico is potentially a very exciting market, growing 17% over 2011 to 800,757 bottles.This is part of a wider wine trend highlighted by Rabobank, which has seen Mexico’s overall wine imports grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% between 2006 and 2011.
If that rate of growth is continued then within a very short space of time Mexico will be rivalling Brazil, which is growing at a slower pace in Champagne terms although it is larger at 1,050,696 bottles as of 2011.
Furthermore, if Brazil does increase import taxes in what is widely seen as a protectionist move and then turns increasingly to its own wine industry to supply a demand for wine that is growing at 30% CAGR, Mexico may very well rise in stature as a top Latin American market.
A great deal of the current press regarding Mexico is centred on the increasingly horrific drug war, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 2006.
However, this image of Mexico being nothing more than a playground for violent drug lords, overlooks the country’s rising middle class which, as with this strata of society everywhere, is increasingly looking for aspirational products.
Nonetheless, it has been noted that many trends in Mexico, including the popularity of Champagne, will very much depend on whether or not the country’s super-elite continue to regard it and other fine wines as their drink of choice.
