Christmas boost for cava
substantially this Christmas as consumers across Spain raise a
glass to their loved ones, according to the head of the Consejo
Regulador del Cava, the body which regulates and promotes the wine.
Gustavo Garcia-Guillamet told the Spanish press that Spaniards would spend around €180 million on some 50 million bottles of cava this Christmas, 50 per cent of the total annual consumption of the sparkling wine.
Garcia-Guillamet said that the figures do not actually vary much from year to year, despite the Consejo Regulador's ongoing attempts to de-seasonalise cava sales.
He said that while toasting friends and family with cava was meant to bring good luck - and the reason for the drink's overwhelming popularity at the end of the year - the drink was in fact far more versatile than that - as an accompaniment to food, for example.
The head of the Consejo said that cava was also becoming increasingly popular outside of Spain as well, with Germany heading the list of export destinations with 36.8 million bottles sold there in the first three quarters of the year.
The UK is another popular destination with 13.5 million bottles, while the US is the third biggest importer of cava with 8.1 million bottles.
Although export sales take place year round, there is also a significant increase in sales in the final quarter of the year, Garcia-Guillamet said.
Exports are expected to be around 4 per cent higher this year than in 2002. Total sales last year, in Spain and abroad, reached 205 million bottles, with 52.78 per cent of sales going to overseas markets.
And to go with the cava - frozen fish
Meanwhile, Spanish consumption of frozen food, in particular fish and seafood products, is also expected to increase significantly this Christmas, according to recent data from AECOC, the Spanish retail association.
The organisation claims that frozen food sales will rise by as much as 50 per cent during the festive season, with frozen fish sales increasing by 15 per cent and frozen seafood sales increasing by 50 per cent.
Fish and seafood are the core products in the traditional Spanish Christmas meal, and it is no surprise therefore that these products lead the way at this time of year.
But AECOC said that other product sectors had shown excellent growth in previous years. These include frozen vegetables and frozen ready meals, the organisation said. Frozen vegetables, for example, showed a 40 per cent increase in sales in 2002.
