Freixenet Copestick celebrates strong Christmas trading

Freixenet Copestick cemented its status as the UK’s leading supplier of sparkling wine by increasing sales 21% over the Christmas trading period.

IRI and Kantar data for the 12 weeks to December 27 shows that sparkling wine grew 12% and still wine grew 15% year-on-year in the UK off-trade.

Freixenet Copestick outperformed the market with growth of 21%. The Freixenet brand was a star performer, with 37% sales growth, and it became the UK’s number one Prosecco brand.

It also broke into the top 10 wine brands for the first time at number 8, and ended the 12-week period as the UK’s bestselling sparkling wine, Prosecco, cava and sparkling rosé brand.

Another brand from the portfolio, I Heart, was number nine in the UK still and sparkling wine market, thanks to growth in its still wines. Mionetto Prosecco was up 72%.

Managing director Damian Clarke said: “We attribute much of the Freixenet growth to the carefully considered decision to return to TV with a celebratory advert. Our ‘for when we can celebrate together again’ advert clearly captured the public mood and led to a 50% increase in the number of households buying Freixenet over the Christmas period.”

Freixenet Copestick also owns online retailer Slurp, and it recently bought London on-trade supplier Jascots.