Champagne sales in the UK off-trade have outperformed those in the rest of Europe during 2024, particularly in value terms, reports Giles Fallowfield. While total volume Champagne sales have been falling in the UK – they dropped 13.5% in the first nine months of 2024 – at the same time value rose by 8.1%, according to AC Nielsen MAT figures. And as we enter the crucial final trading period – around 40% of total Champagne sales are made in the last eight weeks of the year and around 25% in the final three weeks – volume was only down 1.2% and value 0.5% in the ten months to 1st November (AC Nielsen). These figures suggest the UK is performing much more strongly than the rest of Europe, where shipments overall fell 18% (Jan-Sept) and in France where they dropped 10.1% in the first nine months. Champenois strategy Retail prices may have risen generally but if the Champenois strategy is mainly about adding value in the face of steeply rising costs then this clearly looks like a more efficient trading model. The UK market has been changing in other ways too. In the first ten months of 2024 private label sales were up by 8.4% in volume and 8.3% in value. The previous decline in own-label partly relates to tight grape supplies and higher grape prices dating back to the shortages from the low official yield of 8,000kgs/ha set in 2020 as Covid hit confidence, followed by the small frost
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Champagne
