Experts have issued a global Prosecco shortage warning, with stocks in the UK said to be in short supply especially moving into the warmer, summer months.
The UK (and the rest of the world) are set to face a Prosecco shortage this summer. Figures published in The Grocer have revealed that Brits drank around 40 million litres of Prosecco last year and this average is set to soar even more this year.
What does this mean for us? Well, Prosecco is only produced in nine provinces in Italy and the demand for the fizzy Italian drink has become so high that they can't keep up – basically, we're drinking Italy dry.
Toby Magill, of market research firm IRI, told the Sunday People; 'Supply is finite. Demand is growing everywhere in the world so there's a limit on what retailers can get their hands on. Like champagne, Prosecco is geographically limited and can only be produced in a small region of Italy.'
Sales at our favourite supermarket chains are up 34% to £356 million in the year to the end of February, according to analysis by IRI. Sales of non-Prosecco sparkling wines including Cava have risen too! Cava rose by 9.4%, to £297 million while champagne sales rose only 1%, to £251 million.
Italian Prosecco is much easier and cheaper to produce than its French rival Champagne. It's cheaper to buy in the UK too, which is probably one of the main reasons why we drink so much - other than it tasting delicious of course! Oh and did we mention that a glass of Prosecco works out at only 121 calories on average? Another valid reason.
Feel like you're having déjà vous? You're not the only one. Back in 2015, early May, we also faced a warning that Prosecco was well and truly on it's way out. It looks like every year the demand is increasing and the supply can't cope.
We're just going to have to ease up on the Prosecco drinking for now otherwise we're in for a short, dry summer.
