The fear of Brexit pushed exports of Prosecco to Great Britain. Sales grew by +18%, as Britons rushed to buy their most appreciated Italian product to stock up for a possible no deal. According to Istat data for the first two months of 2019, never before have so many bottles of Prosecco wine been uncorked in the UK. A historical record for the most famous Italian sparkling wine, with almost one bottle exported out of three (35%) being consumed by the British and challenging beer in their preference.
PROSECCO FACING THE RISK OF A NO DEAL BREXIT
Prosecco, on the other hand, risks being heavily affected by tariff barriers and by the customs difficulties that could arise from a no deal Brexit, with greater difficulties for deliveries. Overall, last year Italian wine had a turnover of almost 827 million euros on the UK market. This was driven by Prosecco boom with sales for 348 million euros.
With a no deal there would also be a serious problem for legal protection of products with a geographical indication. Without the current European protection they are in danger of suffering unfair competition from counterfeited products, even from countries outside the European Union.
