CHILE: Vina Concha y Toro FY wine sales rise

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 18 January 2010

Concha y Toro reports Chile exports rise

Vina Concha y Toro, the Chile-based wine giant, has reported a double digit sales rise for 2009, despite a slowdown in the fourth quarter.

Net sales for the 12 months of 2009 rose by 12% to CHP353.5bn (US$723m), reflecting an 11% rise in export sales and a 7% rise in domestic sales, Vina Concha y Toro said late last week.

Export volumes for the year rose by 9% to 158.2m litres, with domestic volume sales up 3.5% to 74m litres, said the producer of Casillero del Diablo wines.

The group survived a significant slowdown in the fourth quarter of the year, with sales up by 6% to CHP93.9bn. Export sales in the final three months rose by 3%, while domestic sales increased by 9%.

However, export volumes in the fourth quarter rose by nearly 14%, suggesting that consumers in key markets such as the US and UK have traded down to cheaper varieties.