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Even Champagne is going through a crisis
The luxury crisis is affecting all elite sectors
January 25th, 2025
Champagne, always considered the ultimate apotheosis of luxury and elegance, is going through a period of uncertainty. Despite the recent New Year's holiday - traditionally a peak time for French bubbles - sales in 2024 suffered a 9.2% contraction compared to the previous year, with 271.4 million bottles shipped. The domestic market is not immune either, with a 7.2% drop in France. These figures are even more surprising when compared to 2022 when revenues exceeded six billion dollars and bottles sold exceeded 300 million. It is almost spontaneous to ask what could have happened in such a short period of time. According to Comité Champagne (the French wine region's Confindustria), the slowdown is a macro-signal of an uncertain global climate, marked by inflation, international political tensions, and a general aversion to spending in key markets such as France and the United States. However, it would seem that 2025 could represent a pivotal moment for the high-end alcohol market.
A possible key to relaunch lies in travel retail, i.e. the sale of retail products in places related to travel, such as airports, stations, and terminals. As was already emerged last December, the sector could exceed one hundred billion dollars in global turnover in 2025. Although travel retail was heavily affected by the pandemic, a rapid recovery has been recorded recently, driven above all by the return of international travelers and a constant increase in air traffic - estimated at +1.7% in 2024 and +1.8% in 2025, with annual growth forecasts of 3.4% until 2040 (almost four billion more passengers than today). In this scenario, champagne could find new momentum precisely thanks to the vivacity of duty-free channels. Andrew Bardsley, brand director of Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail for high-end and ultra-prestige brands, underlines how the demand for champagne in duty-free remains robust, to the point of pushing the company to reinsert Perrier-Jouët champagne in some major international destinations.
The latest industry analysis also shows that traveler behavior is constantly evolving. As pointed out by JingDaily, once the purchase at the airport was driven above all by the concept of gifting, today there is a growing trend towards self-gifting. Based on data provided by ATRI, 51% of travelers purchase products for themselves, 25% as gifts, 16% to share upon return, and 8% at the request of third parties. Of these, about one-third of purchases are made on impulse, without precise planning. In this context, champagne brands can no longer limit themselves to just selling bottles but must create unique and immediately usable experiences in travel retail spaces. Offering tastings and setting up dedicated areas within airports, for example, can encourage travelers to indulge in a champagne moment on the spot, prompting them to reward themselves without having to wait to arrive at their destination. Perhaps finally traveling will return to being "trés chic".