Rabobank Wine Quarterly Q1 2021: Covid's Long-Term Impact on the Wine Industry

The global pandemic made 2020 a challenging year for the wine industry. “While the on-premise is expected to start to recover later this year, we believe there will be structural changes facing the industry that will create additional advantages for larger wineries and support industry consolidation,” according to Stephen Rannekleiv, Global Strategist – Beverages.

Report summary

2020 was a relatively quiet year for M&A, as the pandemic put many in a more cautious mood, and even some of those looking to close deals encountered hurdles from travel restrictions and social distancing measures. We believe 2021 will see a much higher level of M&A activity, with some of the usual players doing deals, but we also expect some new faces (both among acquirers and types of targets).

Given the rising importance of sustainability, we’ve created a new section in the Wine Quarterly aimed at sharing sustainability news and initiatives that we believe add value to the industry.

Regarding currencies, US dollar weakness remained the driving theme in the FX markets in the final quarter of last year, as has been the case since the spring of 2020.

Jane Foley, Rabobank's Head of FX Strategy, contributed to this publication.