UK wineries join first direct sales benchmark

UK wineries are being asked to take part in a new industry study that will measure how producers sell wine directly to consumers, as Marzipan, a wine commerce platform, and WineGB move to build the first broad benchmark of the channel in Britain.

The project, called the State of UK Direct-to-Consumer Wine Commerce 2026 report, was announced on June 1 and is open to wineries across the country. Organizers said the survey is meant to give producers a clearer picture of how their direct sales compare with those of other wineries in areas including cellar door sales, online orders, wine clubs and events.

Direct-to-consumer sales account for about 30% of UK wine revenue, according to WineGB data on English producers. That is far below the 68% share reported in the United States, a gap that has drawn attention from wineries looking to grow margins and build stronger customer relationships outside traditional retail and wholesale channels.

Marzipan said the report is intended to fill a data gap in a part of the market that is often discussed but not easily measured. The company said it wants to provide wineries with practical benchmarks on sales mix, cellar door operations, wine club performance, customer demographics and expected growth over the next 12 months.

Adam Wood, Marzipan’s founder, said the goal was to make the findings available free to producers and to create a baseline that can be tracked over time. He said participation would make the report more useful for the industry as a whole.

The survey takes no more than 10 minutes to complete, according to the company. Responses will be kept confidential and reported only in aggregated form. Wineries that contribute will receive the full report before it is released publicly in November 2026.

The survey closes on July 31.