Champagne exports are slowly climbing

Champagne shipments, particularly exports to markets outside Europe, are showing some slight signs of recovery after a weak start to the year, reports Giles Fallowfield.

The latest provisional figures for shipments in the first half of 2025 to the end of June, show a slight drop of 1.25% in volume compared the first half of 2024 at 105.4 million bottles, versus 106.6m in January-June 2024.

But while domestic consumption in France remains depressed at 41.0 m bottles shipped (January to June 2025), a decline of 5.2% compared to the first half of 2024, the export picture is somewhat rosier at 64.5 million bottles, a slight increase of 1.6% on the same period in 2024.

Shipments to countries outside Europe, principally the US, UK and Japan, the three single largest markets for Champagne other than France, performed more strongly than those within Europe. Export shipments outside Europe rose 3.8% to 46m bottles while those to Europe fell back slightly, dropping by 3.4% to 18.5m bottles.

Difficult period

After a very difficult period for the company in recent months with largescale redundancies announced and profits plummeting, Moët Hennessy’s market leading Champagne brands Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon have recorded a fairly significant rebound in the US in the first half of 2025, according to NielsenIQ data as of 5 July.

Clicquot volume in the US is up 6.9%, with value ahead by 5.7%, compared to the first half of 2024. The brand’s volume dropped 5% in 2024 to 577,000 cases. Sister brand Moët, though smaller in this market, did better still with volume up 9.1% and value ahead 7.6% so far this year, results that follow a 7% decline last year to 360,000 cases.

Total Champagne shipment figures for the first half of 2025 show that the top 15 export markets grew overall each month and were ahead by 10.9% in volume and up 11.3% in value in June, while the UK market say good volume growth – up 8.9% but with a small value drop, down 1.2% in the same month.

Maximum level of usable yield

The latest shipment figures are important as later this week on Wednesday (23 July), the Comité Champagne (CIVC) is meeting to decide the maximum level of usable yield that will be allowed from the 2025 harvest in Champagne and current sales will have a major influence on that decision. With stocks of Champagne in the cellars in Reims and Epernay significantly higher than the preferred 3.5 years of supply at over five years (1,523m to the end of July 2024) with the reserve also at a high level of (257m bottles equivalent), striving to keep a good balance between supply and demand looks particularly tricky this year.

The two presidents of the CIVC – David Chatillon, president of the UMC representing the houses, and Maxime Toubart President of the SGV, the main growers’ union – will have their work cut out to keep the different factions in Champagne happy.

In general terms, the growers, particularly those that are just selling their grapes to the négoce, will want the yield to be set as high as possible as the are paid by the kilo, while the houses won’t want stock levels rising further at a time when demand is still weak and the future so uncertain.

In 2024 in the wake of already falling sales, the allowable yield was set at 10,000 kg/ha, some 1,400kgs/ha lower than the yield agreed for the previous 2023 harvest. And given that that total champagne shipments in 2024 were down 9.3% on 2023 in volume terms to 271.3m bottles, it seems likely the agreed yield for 2025 will be lower still. Some are even calling for 8,000kgs per ha (which yield the equivalent of approximately 230m bottles).

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