Champagne Sales Continue To Suffer Amid COVID-19 And Were Down By 18% In 2020
Update, January 28, 2021: Champagne sales were down 18 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on retailers and celebratory events, according to Reuters.
Though the numbers were less bleak than experts initially thought, total sales of champagne were at 245 million bottles in 2020, which is down from almost 300 million in 2019. They believe it could lead to a $1.2 billion fall in value.
“It is a little better than we had thought,” CIVC co-Chairman Maxime Toubart told the media, according to Reuters: “Around the world, even if we are not allowed to party, there were still some events to celebrate, and champagne is a symbol of celebration.”
Experts expect sales to continue to be lower for much of the year, though they're hoping for a boost near the end of 2021 if things begin to open back up. It would certainly be a cause to pop some bottles, that's for sure.
Original, August 3, 2020: Champagne sales are down by an estimated $2 billion for this year, according to the Associated Press, as many celebrations such as weddings and graduations are being canceled amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the report, the champagne industry is in crisis, with makers expecting an estimated 100 million bottles to be unsold at the end of the year.
“We are experiencing a crisis that we evaluate to be even worse than the Great Depression,” said Thibaut Le Mailloux of the Champagne Committee, an association that represents roughly 16,000 winemakers.
Makers are now brainstorming solutions including turning champagne grapes into hand sanitizer, a move that Anselme Selosse, producer of Jacques Selosse Champagnes, referred to as "an insult to nature." Additionally, the Champagne Committee will be meeting later this month to impose a cap on production that would cause a "record quantities of grapes will be destroyed or sold to distilleries at discounted prices," according to the AP. Some makers are also working to rebrand their champagne, highlighting its quality and where it comes from, rather than marketing it simply as a drink meant to be served as celebrations.
Still, this would all be a tough change to swallow for many champagne makers: “It should not be forgotten that (champagne) has lived through every single war," founder of Vranken-Pommery Monopole Paul-Francois Vranken told the AP: "But with the other crises, there was a way out. For now, there is no way out—unless we find a vaccine.”
The champagne industry is just one of many that have been disrupted as COVID-19 cases continue. The food and beverage industries have been affected at high rates with everything from bars and restaurants to the cheese industry having to change all of their normal practices.
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