New Zealand wine exports to US breaks $500m

03 May, 2017

By Shay Waterworth

New Zealand wine exports to the US have surpassed $500m for the first time, an increase of 11% within the last year.

Wine became New Zealand’s fifth largest export good by value after exports reached a record $1.63bn in March 2017, according to Statistics New Zealand.

The wine industry has a global goal of $2bn of exports by 2020 and Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, believes the US market will keep expanding.

“New Zealand wine, especially sauvignon blanc, is very popular in the US and we expect consumer demand to continue to grow,” said Gregan.

“The new record level of wine exports into the world’s largest and most competitive market is an outstanding achievement for New Zealand wine exporters and testifies to the strong global demand for our wines.”