Champagne sales for the first half of 2024 have dropped worldwide, and one industry executive thinks the reason is simply because there’s less joy in the world and a lack of “celebration.”
Speaking on a Tuesday earnings call, CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony — with luxury goods company LVMH (responsible for such brands as Dom Pérignon, Krug and Mercier) — said that people are just not in a celebratory mood, the New York Post noted.
“Champagne is quite linked with celebration, happiness, et cetera,” Guiony said.
“Maybe the current global situation, be it geopolitical or macroeconomic, does not lead people to cheer up and to open bottles of Champagne,” he added. “I don’t really know.”
The company said that in 2024, it had sold 15% fewer bottles of Champagne than the year prior over the same time period, the outlet noted.
Guiony said that while the Champagne industry has seen lower demand, especially in Europe, sales for still and sparkling wine for his company were up 16% over the same time period the year before, the Post noted.
Champagne shipments sink in opening half of 2024.
Champagne makers have called for a cut in the yield of grapes harvested in the region this year following the decline in shipments.https://t.co/lV2Zraz4Rq pic.twitter.com/gDrv54u7Tp
— Just Drinks (@Just_Drinks) July 22, 2024
David Chatillon, chairman of the Champagne Houses lobby, said in a statement issued by the producers association, the Comite Champagne (Champagne Committee, which represents more than 350 Champagne houses), that the uncertain economy is to blame for the poor sales, Reuters reported.
“The gloomy global geopolitical and economic situation, as well as generalized inflation, is weighing on household consumption,” Chatillon said.
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“Champagne also continues to suffer the consequences of overstocking by retailers in 2021 and 2022,” he added.
The committee said that shipments for Champagne are down 15.2% over the same period last year, totaling some 106.7 million bottles sent out, USA Today noted.
And with consumers holding tighter to their finances, buying a bottle of Champagne, which can run anywhere from a hundred dollars to a thousand, just might be more of a luxury than people can afford these days.
The Champagne Committee also pointed out in its statement that this year’s harvest has been affected by frosts and wet weather in the area, which lead to “increased mildew fungus attacks” on the most vital ingredient to making the bubbly celebratory drink, grapes, Reuters noted.
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