French wine and spirits exports sparkle in 2017

PARIS: French wine and spirits exports rose to a new record in 2017 due to strong sales to the United States and China, despite a stronger euro exchange rate, the Federation of French Wines and Spirit Exporters (FEVS) said on Wednesday.

Wines and spirits rank second in France for exports, behind aerospace and ahead of perfumes and cosmetics.

“All French regions benefited from this export windfall,” said Antoine Leccia, FEVS’s new president, who spoke to Reuters by telephone.

Export sales reached €12.91 billion ($15.94 billion), up 8.5% on 2016, the federation said in a statement.

Wine sales also rose 6% in volume, recording their first increase in five years.

Exports were mainly driven by the United States and China, the first and third biggest markets for French wines and spirits.

In the United States, sales rose 9.5% and broke the €3 billion mark for the first time, boosted by cognac, which accounted for 40% of exports in value.

In China, where growth of the uppermiddle class is driving sales of luxury goods, shipments climbed 24.5%, to €1.2 billion, mainly due to cognac and Bordeaux wines.

“Chinese customers have a better knowledge of products. They buy more upscale bottles,’’ Leccia said.

After a few lean years in China, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Pernod Ricard SA and Remy Cointreau SA have had a rebound in sales of cognac in the country.

In total, cognac exports rose by 10.8% to €3.07 billion in 2017. Wine sales increased 9.6% to €8.67 billion, including a rise of 7.4% to €2.82 billion for champagne, FEVS said.

In Britain, France’s second-biggest export market for wine and spirits, sales rose by 2.7% to €1.33 billion. Champagne sales to the country, though, fell about 4-5%, hurt by the euro’s rise against the pound after the Brexit vote.