The champagne industry is set to bear the brunt of Brexit in the coming months, with slowing sales and a weak sterling forcing prices higher.
Champagne, which is all produced abroad and imported into the UK but British companies, has had a difficult few months since the Brexit vote; the falling value of sterling against both the dollar and the euro has led to increasing price pressures for importers.
Andrew Hawes, managing director of Mentzendorff, which ships Bollinger into the UK, told the Guardian that as a “UK company importing 100 percent foreign-produced products, we have borne the full brunt of falling sterling.”
Slowing sales have plagued the industry since Brexit, with the Champagne Bureau, which promotes the drink in the UK, saying consumers were choosing prosecco or cava in order to counteract the rising costs of champagne.
Whilst the UK remains champagne’s number one export market by volume, sales slumped by 8.7 percent in 2016 to 31.2 million bottles, with sales by value plunging by 14 percent to £381 million.
The fall was also reflected globally, however, with total champagne sales around the world dropping by 2 percent. In France the figure was down by 2.5 percent – although it still represents around half of the market.
The Wine and Spirits Trade Association warned last month that Brexit would likely lead to a rise in the cost of drinking in the UK, with consumers facing a “triple whammy” of Brexit, inflation and rising alcohol duty causing prices to surge by around £1 a bottle.