Champagne sales have fallen this year, with French industry executives believing the world is in a slump with less to celebrate.
“LVMH has a champagne problem” Reports Business Insider. “Chief Financial Officer Jean-Jacques Guiony thinks that could be because people are celebrating by opening bottles less.”
In the first two quarters of 2024, sparkling wine sales increased 16%, while Champagne sales were down 15% year-over-year.
“Champagne is closely associated with celebration, happiness, and so on,” LVMH’s CFO said on an earnings conference call. “Maybe the current global situation, whether it’s geopolitical or macroeconomic, is not conducive to getting people fired up and opening a bottle of Champagne. I’m not sure.”
LVMH is the world’s largest champagne producer, owning brands such as Dom Pérignon, Krug, Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, and Mercier, according to Business Insider.
“Champagne shipments in the first half of this year were 15.2% lower than in 2023,” the report added. The decline was due to “economic uncertainty and inflation impacting consumer spending,” said David Chatillon, chairman of the Champagne Houses lobbying group.
There’s nothing particularly surprising about this.
A waiter serves champagne in one of the compartments on board the Belmond Venice Simplon Orient-Express luxury train. (Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Our civilization is facing crippling inflation, two major wars, a corporate media that constantly lies to us, and too many governments more interested in globalization than in caring for their own countries and their people. Add to that a growing wave of violent crime, the insanity of the West importing millions of Third World people without screening them, and we’re all addicted to screens.
Pulling a cork is a group activity, and fewer and fewer people like group activities, and even in groups, everyone is staring at their phones.
Yes, I’m a bit of a hypocrite. I don’t like groups, and I don’t like champagne. But I also don’t want to see our civilization turn inward. A healthy civilization is one where easy-going people party and celebrate and talk about things other than politics.
I believe America peaked in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Getting older is no fun, but I’m so glad I lived through those decades. Younger people don’t realize how good life was in America before cable TV news, the internet, and helicopter parents.
Bad News Bears I used to ride bikes in the 70’s. Footloose, The ’80s was Def Leppard and blaring beer. The ’90s was zero deficits and cheap gas.
John Nolte’s first and last novel Borrowed time, Winning 5-Star Rave Reviews Submissions from our everyday readers. You can read excerpts here here And a detailed review here. Also available in hard cover and Kindle and Audiobooks.
