The development of main factors of the wine demand

The paper identifies and analyses the main factors which influenced the wine demand. The average annual wine consumption per capita is the basic factor of the wine demand. The average annual wine consumption, one of the wine demand factors, grew between 2003 and 2007 from 16.3 l to 18.5 l per capita. Following this trend, we can expect the average annual wine consumption 19.0 l per capita in year 2010. A positive feature of this development is also the fact, that there grows the demand after the quality wines. At the same time, there grows also the consumption of the lower quality, cheap wines packed in boxes or PET bottles. A continuously growing tendency can be also noticed in the red-wine consumption. This change of consumer preferences has significantly influenced the growth of the share of the red varieties in the new-planted vineyards. However, there are critical factors in the development of the demand for wine demand here. Specifically, it is the daily feasible ration of alcohol in wine and other alcoholic drinks, especially beer that we can treat as the substitute of wine. The average annual beer consumption moves about 160 l per capita in the Czech Republic. The continuously growing tendency of wine consumption is reduced by the lower price of beer too, because beer is the cheapest alcoholic drink in the Czech Republic. The taste and preferences of consumers have been changing, that means, that the consumers are the ones who decide about the wine quality, and not producers. That is why this paper includes the partial results of the research oriented on the habits and behaviour of consumers in the wine market in the Czech Republic. It is concentrated on the wine sellers opinions on demand development in the wine market.