Lidl: Hungary's Leading Wine Exporter

Lidl Hungary set a record last year, both at home and abroad, selling 28.5 million bottles of Hungarian wine in 2020, a 21% increase compared to the previous year. By selling HUF 6.3 billion worth of domestic wine to foreign markets, the discount chain accounted for 33% of total Hungarian wine exports in bottles, thus confirming its position as the largest domestic wine exporter, index.hu reports.

For years, the supermarket chain has been striving to support Hungarian suppliers, which is why Lidl launched its program for or Hungarian Suppliersback in 2013. As part of this, Lidl Wine Expo Hungary was launched in 2014, with a special focus on improving the position of Hungarian wineries and promoting Hungarian wines. The program has proved so successful that while in 2014 the company sold six million bottles at home and abroad, by 2020 this figure had reached 28.5 million, a 21% increase on the previous year.

At the start of Lidl Wine Expo Hungary in 2014, Lidl sold a total of 3.1 million bottles of Hungarian wine on foreign markets. In 2018, we had already reached 11 million bottles, which was the turning point for Lidl Hungary to become the largest domestic wine exporter. In 2020, we will have passed the 15 million bottle mark, which is a clear success not only for us, but also for the Hungarian wineries, Judit Tőzsér, Lidl Hungary's corporate communications manager, told index.hu.

The discount chain set a record not only in terms of total sales, but also in terms of wine exports, as it sold HUF 6.3 billion worth of Hungarian wines to foreign markets, which is 25% higher than the 2019 result.

This HUF 6.3 billion represents 33% of total Hungarian wine exports by the bottle, which not only preserves but also further strengthens the company's position as Hungary's largest wine exporter.

The company exported 195 types of domestic wine to twelve countries across Europe, with Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic being the three largest markets. The most popular wine varieties were Szürkebarát, Királyleányka, Egri bikavér, Tokaj Furmint and Irsai Olivér.

Lidl's Hungarian stores also sold more wine than in previous years, with a more modest increase, but the 13.2 million bottles sold were still the highest ever in the history of the discount chain. Domestic consumers continue to focus on fragrant wines, light rosés and traditional reds.