In forty years, champagne wines have never experienced such a sharp drop in worldwide exports. However, producers managed to limit the damage by raising their prices.
The slowdown affecting the luxury goods sector has not spared champagne producers.
Worldwide, 299 million bottles were sold in 2023, down 8.2% on the previous year.
However, producers were able to count on higher prices, resulting from the brand premiumization strategy begun in 2018 and inflation linked to international geopolitical tensions.
This enabled the industry to exceed the 6 billion euros recorded in 2022.
Backlash against an exceptional 2022
Despite an 8.2% drop in foreign shipments, the Comité Champagne is adamant that, with 299 million bottles “shipped”, the sales volume of champagne wines in 2023 will be a much better vintage than in 2019. A pivotal period in the collective imagination, evoking a pre-covid era instinctively associated with the idea of abundance.
Yet the experts don’t share the Committee’s optimism. Firstly, because the industry has benefited from three exceptional years following the health crisis, recording record sales volume in 2022 at 326 million bottles sold.
Secondly, 2019 marks the end of a period of erosion in champagne sales, with 297 million bottles sold. This compares with a peak of 321 million bottles shipped in 2015.
In 2023, this means that we have witnessed the sharpest drop in the industry in forty years, with the exception of the Covid period.
The price of premiumization?
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