Champagne needs to ‘create a new occasion’

Champagne needs to “create a new occasion” and better communicate its brand if it is to recruit new consumers to the category, believes the managing director of Nicolas Feuillatte.

Julie Campos, managing director of Nicolas Feuillatte. Credit: Philippe Martineau

Speaking to db at a dinner last night Julie Campos, who took over as managing director in January 2015 following the retirement of Dominique Pierre, said a “lack of response” by the region over the last 10 years had led Champagne to be “pushed into an occasion drinking” wine.

“[Champagne] thought its reputation was built and they they didn’t have to do anything to communicate Champagne”, said Campos of the region.

While she stated her belief that the CIVC, the trade body responsible for promoting Champagne, was now “moving in the right direction”, she said more needed to be done to communicate what Champagne is to the consumer.

“Champagne has reached a turning point in its development. I’m convinced that Champagne will always be perceived as the top world sparkling wine, but I think we need to speak more directly to our consumers. We need to speak to the consumer and recruit new consumers by explaining to them what Champagne is. Some consumers don’t really know what Champagne is, how it is made or how long it spends on lees. I think we need to communicate better both collectively and individually about all these things.”

Talking about Nicolas Feuilatte specifically, Campos said creating a “new occasion” to recruit new consumers was key, noting China as a prime example.

“The consumers we are coming at today will die and the consumers we will sell to will be different. If you are going to sell to China, they have no concept of the apéritif and they have no pleasure in drinking Champagne at the table or with their meal. So unless you create a different occasion to enjoy the product in China you aren’t going to sell much. If you don’t evolve and create new occasions and react to consumers then little by little your current business will dwindle.”

When asked if the success of Prosecco and Cava presented a challenge for Champagne Campos was clear on the competition stating: “We don’t worry about it, we take care of it”.

“You have to know what they are doing and pitch against them”, she said. “Some producers never talk about their competition. I do because it’s natural, as long as you are saying nice things.”

Speaking specifically about Prosecco Campos said she sees the category’s success as “more of a challenge in a positive sense” than a threat.

“Prosecco is growing in double figures so they are getting something right. It is collective branding, but I think it’s a good thing to be selling more and more sparkling wines because its getting more and more people onto the ladder of tasting sparkling wine.”

Nicolas Feuilatte’s Brut Reserve, its top selling Champagne accounting for 80% of its total sales.

Taking the development of New World wines as an example, Campos said competition from other categories was vital to improving your own.

“That’s what has happened with the New World wines and French traditional wines. It has made the French get better on quality. I’m certain that without the world competition a lot of the improvement in French vineyards would not have happened. There’s no room anywhere in the world for poor quality wines today.”

“I have never thought that you should be afraid of the competition. It’s the same in Tennis. The better the player you are playing against the better you get.”

Last year Nicolas Feuillatte sold 10.66 million bottles in 2014, up 8% on the previous year – a record for the brand – with sales increasing across every channel from retail and bars, hotels and restaurants in France and export markets. The company posted sales worth €214 million euros in its latest annual financial report.

While Campos admitted her strategy won’t be “anything revolutionary”, she is confident of increasing the company’s sales by 1,000,000 bottles asserting, “I would like to get there in three years”.

Of its total sales, 55% is in the French market where it remains the biggest selling Champagne brand, with the remaining 45% accounted for by exports, largely to the UK and US. Nicolas Feuillatte’s newest market is, interestingly, Mongolia, with Campos revealing the company to have shipped two pallets to the country this year.

“We are so strong in our home market that we cannot grow any further so we have to develop other markets”, said Campos. “We have 86 different markets, but you can’t afford to invest in all of them at the same time. At the moment we are concentrating on North America and Africa, as well as a bit in Japan. Japan is the most sophisticated market in Asia for Champagne.”