Cava, the best known and most highly rated sparkling wine in Europe

Vilafranca del Penedés, 18 June 2020.- The DO Cava Regulatory Board held a series of training sessions in June with renowned experts about market trends, consumption and brand strategy for its associate wineries.

The aim of these online conferences, which ended today, Thursday 18 June, was to provide an overview of 2019 and the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, and an attempt to help wineries redirect their strategies and work together on a value proposition and relaunch the DO Cava brand within Spain and internationally.

The overriding conclusion of the different speakers was that Cava is the best-known and most consumed sparkling wine in Spain (especially in Catalonia) and in Belgium (mainly in Flanders). It is also the best-known and most highly rated sparkling wine in Europe, beating both Champagne and Prosecco.

In addition, Cava is recognised as the sparkling wine most often associated with family celebrations and one that is better value for money. Also, half of consumers know that Cava is produced using traditional methods.

The experts concluded that Cava has the chance to rebrand itself as a quality product for informal occasions and everyday luxuries, a challenge that will require time to complete.

There is also positive growth of almost + 2% in terms of price in the food and beverages sector, while volume remains stable. The experts understand that the challenge for Cava wineries is in diversifying markets, channels and products, to be better prepared for any future crises.

The sessions highlighted the need to commit to information and “be clear about which opportunities to focus on at moments of changing consumer habits in a market that is ever more competitive”, insists Patrícia Correia, communications director for D.O. Cava. She added that

D.O. Cava is in no doubt that ultimately this crisis is also an opportunity to rethink product lines and test new means of communication to provide end customers with a high-quality product.

The morning sessions began on 4 June with Juan Park, director of Wine Intelligence Spain, which studies the behaviour of more than 100,000 consumers in over 35 countries and analyses more than 700 new products and services to meet new consumer trends. Park analysed global trends among wine consumers and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

On 9 June, it was the turn of Elena Comas, independent professional and market research specialist. She presented the results of the qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany and which will be used to define DO Cava’s brand repositioning. Her talk focused on an assessment of Cava in the context of sparkling wine, from the point of view of European consumers.

Carla Tortosa, director of the McCann agency in Barcelona, led the 11 June session, where she presented the strategic branding project for DO Cava, with a new value proposition for the brand’s relaunch.

And this Thursday saw the last of the online sessions with a webinar from José Roldán, in charge of new business and customer development in collaboration with Nielsen, with an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the sparkling wine market and on Cava in the Spanish market.