The Cava company has confirmed it will lay off the majority of its workforce in north Spain due to a prolific drought that has lasted for more than three years. In a statement issued by Freixenet this week, the Cava firm said that the temporary measure will see at least 615 of its employees furloughed from May. “The measure, which has been implemented in the interests of responsibility, aims to guarantee the operation of the business and to maintain employability in order to deal with external factors and the force majeure caused by the serious drought,” the company said. “The furlough, caused by force majeure, is an exceptional measure that has been taken in the current context of a crisis that had been brought about by a lack of raw materials because of the harsh drought that has affected the sector since 2021 – and which hit the El Penedès area particularly hard in 2023.”‘ Sparkling wine yields have been hit so hard in the region (falling by more than 45%) that Freixenet has made the decision to release a new sparkling wine range using Spanish grapes, but which cannot be classified as Cava as it would presumably not meet the strict requirements of the DO. “The new range is a Cuvée de España using varieties such as Macabeo – one of the grape varieties that characterise Cava – and Chardonnay,” said Vanessa Lehmann, head of communications for Freixenet. “Following our overall high-quality approach, we use a selection of the
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