It may remain a growing category but that growth has slowed, leading producers to identify new avenues for sparkling exploration.
The majority of the global wine market is struggling to make ends meet in the current economic climate – and then there’s prosecco. The Italian sparkling wine manages to fit in with any modern trend like a chameleon in the depths of Madagascar.
The spark that lit the prosecco category internationally is said to be the financial crisis of 2008 in the UK, forcing Brits to seek alternatives to champagne. According to a report on sparkling wines by Prowein, sales of prosecco have more than doubled over the past decade. In 2025, 667 million bottles of prosecco (value equivalent €3.6bn) were produced – a 1% rise from the previous year. This may all sound rosy, but when growth had been 7% the year before, this could be prosecco’s first sign of fatigue in almost 20 years.
“In a year marked by significant global economic instability, our appellation has demonstrated its resilience,” says Giancarlo Guidolin, president of the Prosecco DOC Consortium.
“This is the result of the joint efforts of the entire value chain: the winegrowers, the cellarmasters and the sparkling wine producers. It is only thanks to this synergy that we are able to face complex international scenarios with balance and foresight.”
The same report shows that more than 80% of prosecco is exported to 164 countries, primarily the US, which saw an 8% increase in the first nine months of 2025. The UK is the second largest export market, gaining 1%, while sales in France rose 21% to overtake Germany and become the third biggest.
In terms of producers Henkell Freixenet is the most significant with its Mionetto brand the category’s largest by volume.
But to stay at the top, brands need to show leadership in adapting to trends, which Henkell Freixenet is doing in abundance.
TAPPING INTO TRENDS
Moderation is one of the big trends in Europe right now and in Prowein’s report it is suggested there will be more prosecco with lower alcohol content (8-9% abv) in the future to “meet the growing demand for a lighter wine experience”. The report continues: “With Italy’s recent legal opening of wine production to include non-alcoholic products, further momentum is likely to emerge here. Although probably not initially under the DOC umbrella, some dealcoholised sparkling wines will certainly soon see the light of day on the market.”
Dani Buckley, global marketing controller at Freixenet Copestick, the UK arm of the business, joined Drinks International to discuss the company’s latest innovations.
“We’re seeing a lot more ʻzebra striping’ coming into play,” says Buckley. “This is when people switch between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks throughout the evening. We’re therefore responding to these trends in our new products.”
Mionetto Orange Spritz Aperitivo launched globally in spring with both alcoholic (5.9% abv) and alcohol-free versions available in cans and the latest release by Freixenet is on a similar wave, ticking every consumer trend in prosecco’s major markets. Solare, a Mediterranean-style aperitivo liqueur made with Spanish lemon, clementine and rosemary, is designed to be mixed with sparkling wine and sparkling water. Essentially, lemon’s answer to the Aperol Spritz. However, beyond the liqueur, Freixenet has simultaneously launched a canned RTD of the Spritz in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions.
“This is a project we think has huge potential,” adds Buckley. “It taps into lots of different trends right now, such as moderation and convenience.”
The real genius behind the move is that rather than simply expanding its prosecco range, the company has created a diff erent product which requires the use of prosecco or alternative sparkling wine in order to grow volumes.
Freixenet’s I Heart Wines brand also released a canned range this summer. Of course, given the regulations of DOC Prosecco, it can’t be labelled as such in cans in order to preserve the quality and image of the category’s brand. However, unlike champagne or cava, prosecco doesn’t undergo secondary fermentation in bottle which means it could be possible to see offi cial canned prosecco in the future.
Buckley adds: “We would love to put prosecco in a can. It feels like the natural progression for the category and the 20cl bottles have always done well for us, so I have no doubt that cans would be a success.
“I think some consumers assume they’re drinking prosecco anyway when they’re not, so in a way they’re trading down without realising and that, perhaps wrongly, lowers the impression of prosecco in the eyes of consumers.”
Prosecco’s moderate volume growth in 2025 may be a result of the effects of these macro trends in established markets such as the UK and US, but it’s adapting to them better than any other wine category. Moderation, the Spritz, ready-to-drink formats, cans – prosecco has an answer to them all and the fact it still showed growth amid such change in consumption patterns provides a ray of hope for a wine industry in decline.
