NEWS
CHAMPAGNE SALES DOWN 18% IN 2020 DUE TO COVID, SHIPMENT TO JAPAN FELL 28%
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
28-1-2021
Credit: Tristan Gassert/Unsplash
Shipments of Champagne in 2020 was hit hard by the pandemic, total shipment is down 18% to 245 million bottles compared to 2019. Shipment to Japan, Champagne's biggest market in Asia, down even higher at 28%, according to figures from the region's marketing body Comite Champagne.
The organisation said in a press release that the year 2020 was a very testing time for the Champagne sector, right across the world. The closure of main centres for consumption and sales, along with the cancellation of many events, put the business under pressure.
The first half of 2020 was particularly challenging, with shipments down 30%. Turnover in the sector was expected to be around €4billion, a loss of around €1bn for the year.
Already in retreat before the crisis, the French market continued to fall (-20%). Champagne’s three leading export markets likewise recorded serious falls this year: -20% in the United States, -20% in the United Kingdom and -28% in Japan.
This drop was meanwhile offset by the relative strength of traditional markets in Continental Europe : Belgium (-5%), Germany (-15%), Switzerland (-9%); and the Australian market recorded a notable increase with growth of 14%.
In June last year, the Champagne region anticipated a 30% fall in shipments for the whole year, and hailed innovative efforts such as direct online sales for helping to limit the damage.
The sector decided in July to substantially reduce production to support prices, they have agreed on the reducing production again for the 2020 harvest.
“Faced with an unprecedented crisis, the organisation of our sector has proved its resilience. Together, the Champagne winegrowers and houses took last year’s wise decisions about cutting yields. The adjustment that the Comité Champagne has agreed on today will give everyone a certain room for manoeuvre,” said Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Champagne and president of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons.
“Despite the crisis, Champagne remains dear to the hearts of consumers who feel the need to keep something exceptional in their everyday lives, to choose quality products when so many other pleasures are unavailable due to the health crisis,” added Jean-Marie Barillère, co-president of the Comité Champagne and president of the Union des Maisons de Champagne.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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