Europe 1 with AFP 16:36 p.m., January 15, 2024

Champagne producers sold fewer bottles in 2023, a year of "return to normal" in terms of volumes after a record 2022 and a black 2020 because of Covid, the Champagne committee announced on Monday.

Total champagne shipments in 2023 amounted to 299 million bottles, 8.2% less than in 2022, the committee, which brings together producers and merchants, said in a press release. Professionals are not worried about this: their strategy is to "move upmarket", i.e. to market bubbles at a higher price, even if it means selling fewer of them.

"Despite the drop in volumes, the move upmarket of the cuvées, especially for export, has allowed the appellation to maintain its turnover above 6 billion euros," an amount exceeded for the first time in 2022, the committee said.

The pandemic is the cause of the drop in sales

"The domestic market is suffering more than export markets from inflation, which has weighed on household budgets throughout the year," he said. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused sales to decline to around 245 million bottles, then in 2021 they rose to 320 million, before reaching 326 million in 2022.

Exports now account for "more than 57% of total sales, compared to 45% ten years ago," the committee notes. Quoted in the press release, the president of the general union of winegrowers, co-president of the Champagne committee, Maxime Toubart, welcomes this "return to normality".

"Champagne is sensitive to the geopolitical context"

"Champagne is an appellation of origin produced in a delimited area and subject to strict rules that do not allow for sustained strong growth in volume," he notes.

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David Châtillon, president of the Union of Champagne Houses and also co-chair of the committee, adds that "with a maintained value, Champagne remains optimistic for the future, even if champagne is sensitive to the geopolitical context and the evolution of the global economy".