FILE PHOTO: Bottles of French champagne Moet & Chandon are on offer in a supermarket of the Swiss retail group Coop in Zumikon
Deliveries of French champagne fell by almost 10% in 2024 in a context of economic and political uncertainties which affected demand in key markets such as France and the United States, announced the Champagne Committee.
French producers had called in July for a reduction in harvests this year after a drop in sales of more than 15% in the first half of 2024. Shipments over the whole of 2024 fell by 9.2% compared to 2023, at 271.4 million bottles, specified the Champagne Committee.
“Champagne is a real barometer of the state of mind of consumers,” notes Maxime Toubart, president of the General Union of Winegrowers and co-president of the Champagne Committee, in a press release published Saturday evening.
“And it is not time for celebration, between inflation, conflicts in the world, economic uncertainties and political wait-and-see attitude in some of the largest champagne markets, such as France or the United States,” he adds. .
The French market represented 118.2 million bottles, a drop of 7.2% compared to 2023 which the producers’ federation attributes to the current economic and political “gloom” in France.
-President Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou as prime minister in December, the fourth head of government in a year. The latter has a fragile foundation and is expected to fight a difficult battle to adopt the 2025 budget which led to the ousting of his predecessor, Michel Barnier.
Champagne exports also fell last year, with only 153.2 million bottles shipped, down 10.8% from 2023.
“It is in less favorable periods that we must prepare for the future, maintain our trajectory in environmental matters, conquer new markets and new consumers,” declared David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee.
The committee indicated in July that the 2024 harvest of the Champagne vineyards had suffered from poor weather conditions from the start of the year, including frosts and wet weather which had contributed to promoting mildew, a vine disease caused by a fungus.
(Report by Sybille de la Hamaide; written by John Irish; French version Claude Chendjou)
