Champagne restrictions depress domestic sales
This drops Champagne shipments below the 25 million case mark for the first time since the global economy crashed in 2009 and contrasts with 2019’s shipment figure of 25.2 million cases (which was itself down 450,000 cases on the 2017 shipment figure of 25.6 million cases).
They point to the French government’s Loi EGalim as being the culprit for the decline as it placed restrictions on the amount of Champagne that can be sold on promotion/price discount in French supermarkets such as Carrefour and Leclerc.
This decline was especially evident in the run-up to Christmas.
The Loi EGalim was introduced to help French farmers get ‘a fair price’ for their produce and to protect the environment from harmful agricultural practices such as the use of herbicides.
However it’s understood that the government is now considering lifting the restrictions for festive periods such as Christmas, Easter and St Valentine’s Day – but ‘buy one, get one free’ deals are likely to remain prohibited however.
While Champagne sales may be decreasing in the French off-trade some producers report growth in the on-trade according to a recent article in the drinksBusiness.