《The globalisation of the wine industry new world》.pdf

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at /1756-137X.htm The globalisation of the wine Globalisation of the wine industry: new world, industry old world and China 301 Michael Thorpe University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Abstract Purpose – As the Chinese economy continues to develop, rising incomes for many people has meant significant shifts in consumption patterns. Over the past several years, per capita wine consumption in China has doubled. Although off a relatively low base, this still represents a significant sales volume. At the same time, the wine industry in the country has been undergoing restructuring with China now emerging as a major producer in world terms. These developments have been occurring at a time when the global wine industry has become increasingly globalised with so-called new world (NW) suppliers challenging established European companies in existing and emerging wine markets. In this context, the paper aims to look at the possible threats as well as opportunities presented by China as a relatively new player in the market. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews recent production and consumption trends in the world wine market. The changing patterns and growing volume of global wine trade is then assessed in light of the significant struct