2023-12-30 16:19:01
There will certainly be many of you to do so.”pop the champagne” this December 31. And yet, we drink less and less. Exports are falling in favor of other, less expensive sparkling wines, and this is not only the fault of inflation.
This year once more, bubbles will be there at the stroke of midnight. But nevertheless, champagne sales are losing momentum. If the final figures for 2023 are not expected before February, producers expect a drop of 10% compared to last year (i.e. 305 million bottles compared to 325 in 2022).
Price increase
It must be said that drinking champagne costs more than it did a year ago. At this wine merchant in the Liège region, you have to count on between 3 and 10 euros more than last year depending on the bottles. Result: we drink less than before, or we drink something else.
“People are drinking a little less champagneconfirms Salvatore Romano, manager of the Comptoir des Vins de Boncelles. They are instead turning to proseccos and cavas which are cheaper“, he notes. Another trend is also that of Belgian bubbles, awarded several medals this year.
International context and overproduction
This increase in prices follows several complicated years internationally. Between the various conflicts and the energy crisis, the manufacture and transport of champagne is becoming more and more expensive. “Inflation particularly affects the champagne sector, more than other wines“, recognizes Grégoire Van den Ostende, director of the Champagne Office for the Benelux.
Another culprit: the Covid-19 crisis. If we have celebrated less during successive confinements, it is the opposite with regard to the last two years.
“2022 was a year of strong growth for champagneexplains the specialist. There were even rumors of shortages“, he remembers. According to him, the distributors might have stocked more champagne as a precaution. The problem is that we then have to wait for this overstocking to run out, which would also explain the slowdown in sales. .
Belgians are good customers
Whether you prefer cava, prosecco, crémant or Kidibul, the decrease in champagne sales should still be put into perspective. For decades, Belgians have been, and remain, the second biggest drinkers of champagne following the French.
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