According to the latest consumer research from Nielsen, New Zealand wines are quickly becoming a regular feature in the cellars of Australian households with continued strong volume sales growth for take-home purchases (up 38% compared to total wine market at 10%).

Information sourced from Nielsen's Homescan Consumer Panel service attributes the strong performance of New Zealand wine sales to two key movements in shopper behavior. Firstly, an additional 74,000 Australian households have purchased New Zealand wine brands over the past year. Secondly, these households are buying these brands more frequently? effectively offsetting heavy promotional efforts driving down average spend levels.

"The New Zealand wine segment is characterized by having shoppers who are relatively heavier spenders. This is a healthy position to be in as we quite often witness brands experiencing a growth in household reach - but encountering a fall in annual spend levels," said Michael Walton, Executive Director - Liquor Services, Nielsen Pacific.

"Despite this growth, the challenge that lies ahead will be to retain these buyers - although repeat rates are growing steadily, it remains that over half (54.1%) will only ever shop for this varietal once on an annual basis. Encouraging trialists to remain within the New Zealand wine portfolio will be the key to sustaining this growth in the longer term," commented Walton.