Losing its fizz
The champagne years are ending as Britons start to ditch the top-price tipple for cheaper alternatives. Supermarket sales of bubbly dropped 18.5 percent in the month to mid-November 2008 compared to the previous year.
Exports to Britain fell by 8 percent in the first nine months of 2008, and sales to the United States slid 17 percent. These falls were recorded before the full impact of the financial storm.
Britain accounts for one in four champagne bottles exported.
In 2007 sales volumes rose almost 6 percent to a record 430 million bottles, worth EUR 4.6 billion (USD 5.9 billion) in revenue, it was reported.
October 2008 saw champagne sales in France, which accounts for 55 percent of the total, drop 11.7 percent. In the European Union, an 18.6 percent fall in October led sales 4.5 percent lower in January to October 2008.
Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein, estimated global shipments from champagne producers could be down about 10 percent for 2008.
The UK warehouse chain Majestic Wines offered an early indication of how disastrous Christmas sales of champagne have been last year when it reported on 8 January 2009 a 2.9 percent fall in like-for-like sale for the ten weeks ending 4 January 2009, as business customers switched to wine and private customers took sparkling drinks to parties instead of champagne.
The amount of money spent on champagne slumped by almost a quarter in the UK in the run-up to Christmas.
Figures from research specialist Nielsen revealed that in the retail sector in the 4 weeks ending 20 December 2008, sales of champagne fell by 22 percent compared to the same period last year, while sparkling wine purchases fell 14.8 percent.
There are some 100 Champagne houses, accounting for about 70 percent of total sales and 90 percent of exports. Luxury group LVMH owns the Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Mercier and Ruinart brands.
World number two wines and spirits group Pernod Ricard counts Mumm and Perrier-Jouet amongst its brands, whilst Remy-Cointreau owns Piper-Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck.
