Manufacturers Association: kosher for Pessah wine exports fell 9%

Manufacturers Association of Israel (MAI) reported last week that kosher for Pessah wine exports, between December 2005 and March 2006, fell 9% to $7 million compared to last year
 
The MAI noted, however, that wine exports to Asia increased by 36% to $140,000 in the first quarter of 2006. In a written statement the MAI said that exports to North America and Europe had gone down due to increased competition from local wine providers. Pessah wine exports to North America, however, fell by 3% to $2.7m. while exports to Europe fell by 6.5% to $1.7m.
 
According to the statement this year 20,000 kosher for Pessah bottles of wine were sent to places such as India, Nepal and Thailand, for Israeli travelers spending the holiday, compared with 18,000 kosher for Pessah bottles, last year.
 
The MAI noted that in the past most kosher for Pessah wines were produced in Israel and in California however, at present, kosher for Pessah wines are produced on nearly every continent with more than 450 kosher wines to choose from originating from California, New York, Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, South Africa and Spain.
 
In a separate statement the Federation of Israeli Chamber of Commerce (FICC) reported last week wine and liquor sales for Passover were expected to reach NIS 250 million (About USD 53 million), a 10% increase over wine and liquor sales for the previous major Jewish holiday of new year.The FICC also reported a growth of 15% in demand for imported wines, despite the fact that most imported wines are not kosher.