Impractical, uncool, unsuitable – and not exactly a 10 out of 10 for taste: wine is far from as popular among many young people as it is among their parents and grandparents.
Marketing professor Laura Ehm, from the Weincampus Neustadt in Germany’s Palatinate wine region, says that Generation Z takes a more critical view of alcohol consumption, partly because of a growing health awareness.
For the struggling industry, the question is: how can it still bring younger consumers closer to wine and wine culture?
Alongside a growing range of non-alcoholic wines, wine cocktails and wine-based mixed drinks, packaging other than glass is also becoming increasingly common.
“A flavoured drink containing wine, that you drink with a straw from a can, could suddenly become interesting for young people too,” says the spokesman for the German Wine Institute, Ernst Büscher.
About 18% of those born between 1995 and 2005, who belong to the younger Generation Z, drink wine regularly. About 11% drink sparkling wine products regularly, Ehm says, citing a survey.
She notes they tended to prefer sweeter wines and had a strong preference for white wine. Ehm also sees a clear regional influence in her surveys: “Wine is only perceived as a cultural product in wine-growing regions.”
Wine for ‘quiet moments’
“Wine becomes interesting for young people especially in quiet moments,” Büscher says.
Market research by sparkling wine and wine producer Rotkäppchen-Mumm has reached similar conclusions about younger consumers.
“Wine is primarily perceived as a social companion for enjoyment and mood in communal moments that are often calmer or special, but plays only a limited role in dynamic everyday consumption situations and when going out,” the company says.
Marketing professor Ehm notes that wine tastings – familiar to their parents – are less likely to appeal to young people.
“Gen Z values brands that live their values and actively involve them,” said Silvia Wiesner, chairwoman of the management board at Rotkäppchen-Mumm.
Sustainable and portable
Entrepreneurs Michael Holzer and Ludger Reffgen, from the historic Bodenheim wine-growing region, focus on sustainability, a topic that is important to many young people.
Using a mobile facility, the entrepreneurs fill wine from small and medium-sized wineries into boxed-wine packaging, boxes lined with plastic bags, Holzer says.
The wineries can market the 3-litre boxes themselves. The packaging, which is popular in other countries, is also practical for travelling and is therefore in demand, he says. Examples include camping, festivals and events where glass containers are prohibited.
Young winegrowers as role models
The younger generation is taking over at many wine-growing estates, says Theresa Olkus from the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (VDP), a private organization uniting around 200 of Germany’s finest and most quality-driven wineries.
Their personalities and the way they communicate – particularly on social media – could also help to reach young people, Olkus adds.
Winegrower Julia Schittler, from the Rheinhessen region, who promotes her profession on Instagram, says that “you have to be active in social media.”
“Social media is a great tool to get both young and old excited online,” says the 35-year-old, who has been working at the winery in Zornheim for 11 years.
She says her family used to laugh at her when she brought out her camera, but now they understand social media is a serious business and no one minds any more.
“People want to be taken along” into the vineyards, the wine cellar, to people and on her trips throughout Germany, Schittler notes.
She also focuses on non-alcoholic wines, bag-in-box packaging and special events in the vineyard. “People are also welcome to visit us and go hiking here.”
Premium wines for special occasions
The VDP can build on the fact that many young people only want to drink wine on special occasions, says association spokesman Max Rohde.
Rohde says a bottle of VDP estate wine costs an average of €11.50 per bottle and is therefore significantly more than an average bottle of German wine at roughly €3.
The Prädikat wine estates therefore tend to focus where people are already becoming interested in wine, Rohde notes.
“It’s like cooking. First you try simple dishes that are fun – and when interest grows, you want to understand why something tastes the way it does and you venture into the more demanding recipes.”
Winemakers are experimenting with alcohol-free wines not only in the white and rosé wine segments, but now also with red wines. Generation Z takes a more critical view of alcohol consumption, partly because of a growing health awareness. Christin Klose/dpa-tmn
FILE PHOTO – Grapes growing on a vine in a vineyard in Germany’s Mecklenburg Lake District. Stefan Sauer/dpa