FRANCE’S champagne producers shipped fewer bottles of bubbly last year, marking another sign of softness in the luxury market.

Foreign shipments from the region of Champagne dropped 8.2 per cent, said the Comite Champagne, which represents the producers, on Monday (Jan 15). Within France, shipments fell to the lowest level in almost four decades excluding 2020, which was skewed by pandemic lockdowns. 

The French are by far the biggest consumers of their home-grown sparkling wine, accounting for more than 40 per cent of shipments. But inflation has weighed on household budgets, said the Comite Champagne.

Demand for Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger, Lanson and others labels soared when pandemic restrictions eased and has since been returning to normal – a trend seen across the luxury goods industry. The consultancy Bain estimates the sector will probably grow by as much as 4 per cent this year, down from 8 per cent in 2023, underlining the challenges facing purveyors of high-end goods.

Total shipments fell to 299 million bottles last year. Growers made up for the lower volumes by selling more expensive labels, especially abroad, keeping revenue above the six billion euros (S$8.75 billion) record reached in 2022, said the Comite Champagne.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton told Bloomberg in September that champagne demand had softened, especially for consumption at home.

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LVMH, the biggest maker of champagne, owns labels such as Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon. The group’s wines and spirits unit, which also includes Hennessy Cognac, saw revenue tumble 7 per cent on an organic basis in the first nine months of last year; it was the only division to suffer a drop over the period. BLOOMBERG