French champagne houses sparkle as 2021 sees record sales
French champagne houses have toasted to record sales worth £4.6bn after demand climbed last year.
According to preliminary estimates from the Comité Champagne trade association, sales hit $5.5bn, even though the hospitality sector continued to face lockdown restrictions last year.
Some 322m champagne bottles were sold last year, an increase of 32 per cent on the previous year when shipments were hit during global Covid lockdowns.
In France, some 142m bottles were sold, an increase of 25 per cent and a return to pre-Covid levels of 2019.
Some 180m bottles were exported, mostly to English-speaking countries where demand was especially high.
Covid restrictions had led to individuals seeking out champagne to drink at home, the body said.
“This recovery is a welcome surprise for the people of Champagne after a troubled 2020 (with figures down by 18 per cent), which was driven by the closure of main points of consumption such as bars and restaurants and the shortage of celebratory events across the world,” said Maxime Toubart, president of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons and co-president of the Comité Champagne.