2015 RECORD YEAR FOR FRENCH WINE EXPORTS THAT REACHED 7.9 BILLION (+ 6.7% ON 2014), AND ARE BACK ON TOP IN THE US AND CHINA, DRIVEN BY CHAMPAGNE. VOLUMES ARE STILL DOWN (-3.6%), AND MARKET SHARE FELL TO 30%

2015 is a record year for wine exports. A great year for Italy as we have already written, but also for France, which after two years of falling is growing again, scoring an excellent 6.7% increase in wine exports reaching 7.9 billion euros, the highest amount ever. If we include spirits to the analysis of the results the Fédération des Vins et de exportateurs Spiritueux (www.fevs.com) presented yesterday, the total jumps to 8.7%, and 11.7 billion euros.
Thanks goes to the weakened euro, which beginning in early 2014 has lost 16% in the exchange rate against the dollar and 10% against the pound, but also to the performances of Champagne and Cognac. “A trade balance”, commented the President of FEVS, Christophe Navarre, “in surplus of 10.4 billion euros; a result that means we have outdone the perfumes and cosmetics segment”.
As mentioned above, on the wine front, Champagne pulled off the best performance, growing 12.1% in value, followed by Burgundy wines (+5.1%) and Bordeaux (+ 2.9%).
As for the markets, the US is France’s number one partner - in open competition with Italy - recording a growth, including cognac, of 28% on 2014, which alone accounts for 84% of the overall growth for the first time over 2.5 billion euros (Italy is at quota 1.3 billion euros, just for wine, http://goo.gl/Ka4cz5). It is a positive rebound, after two years of negativity, even for China, which grew 23%, and has returned to 2013 levels. “The Chinese market”, explained Navarre, “is normalizing, marked by increased demand of entry level”.
There is one negative note, though: volume has fallen for the third consecutive year. It dropped 3.6% in 2015, except for Champagne, which instead grew 4.8%. Generic wines, those that do not have a geographical indication, did worse- wines indicating the variety fell 13.6% while those with no indication fell 16.6%. Another much more obvious downside are the market shares of French wine, which in 2000 were worth 45%, and today only 30%. The solution according to the President of FEVS can be found in the “capacity of the supply chain to produce more and compete with countries such as Spain, Italy and Chile, but also rapidly finalize trade agreements, to break down the trade barriers”.