Between January and December 2023, Portugal sold to Angola, which remains the 8th export destination, 338,552 hectoliters of wine (-0.2 percent compared to the same period last year), worth 44 million euros (-10.51 percent), at an average price of 1.30 euros per liter (-10.33 percent).
Speaking to Lusa, on the eve of the Great Wine Tasting, which takes place in Luanda between Wednesday and Thursday, Sónia Vieira indicated that the decrease in sales is related to the devaluation of the kwanza and the increase in the costs of goods that caused a decline in consumption.
"I would also add a detail which is the great difficulty in having currency to pay to the external market", with an impact on financial flows and imports from Angola, she highlighted.
In the first three months of this year, according to Sónia Vieira, the numbers remain in line with those of the previous year.
"There are three problems that affect the market", she highlighted, indicating that Portugal continues to lead with an 84 percent share of the Angolan market.
"We have to look carefully at this problem, especially because producers are no longer able to send wine to the [Angolan] market because importers are unable to pay", she reinforced.
On the other hand, as wine is not an essential product, "with the increase in the cost of living, there is a decline in goods considered non-essential", she highlighted, adding that the outlook continues to be optimistic.
"We have a positive stance, that things will improve. We have seen these economic contraction flows in the past that then change, so we believe that the scenario throughout the year will change", she told Lusa.
This trip to the market is also "a way of listening to the main difficulties of importers and obtaining a clearer vision of the future prospects".
The head of ViniPortugal said that, this year, the Great Tasting was "reformulated", approaching a festival format with "some new features to add value to the tasting", including a dinner paired with Portuguese wines with the future "Master of Wine", Tiago Macena, and with Angolan chef Helt Araújo, and a master class for professionals, as well as a 'show cooking' for consumers.
In Luanda, 22 producers will be represented with around 220 wines to taste, from seven wine regions.
ViniPortugal is an interprofessional organization that manages the Wines of Portugal brand, present on four continents and 21 strategic markets, including Angola.
With an annual investment of more than eight million euros, it carries out more than 100 actions to promote Portuguese wines every year, involving more than 400 national economic agents.
