Champagne makers say sales losing fizz amid global gloom and changing habits
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Shipments fell nearly 10% last year with French firms blaming economic and political anxiety, and cheaper drinks. Changing habits and the gloomy state of the world are taking the fizz out of French champagne sales, the producers’ association has said, with shipments down nearly 10% last year.
Consumers in crucial markets such as the US and home country France cut down on the luxury beverage, as economic and political anxiety dampened the party mood. “Champagne is a real barometer of the state of mind of consumers,” said Maxime Toubart, the president of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons, the growers’ trade union, and co-president of the Comité Champagne (Champagne Committee), the joint trade association.
“It is not time to celebrate given inflation, conflicts across the world, economic uncertainties and political wait-and-see in some of the largest champagne markets, such as France and the United States.”. More affordable alternatives including prosecco, English sparkling wine and crémant are increasingly replacing champagne among consumers, with demand for the premium French bubbly down to the lowest levels in more than two decades. Cut-price tipples have become more competitive in terms of quality in recent years.
Growing evidence suggests gen Z and millennials in key markets such as the US are turning their backs on alcohol, often in favour of indulgences such as mocktails and marijuana, just as baby boomers retire and spend less on wine. Last July, French champagne producers ordered a cut in the number of grapes harvested after sales fell more than 15% in the first half of 2024. Full-year shipments were down 9.2% from 2023 at 271.4m bottles, according to the Comité Champagne.