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Aldi limits sales of Loire Crémant to two bottles per shopper

23 December 2024 By Sarah Neish

Crémant has unquestionably been the sparkling hero of 2024, and demand this Christmas remains so high that Aldi is limiting its shoppers to buying just two bottles each.

In the lead up to New Years Eve, Aldi shoppers will only be permitted to buy two bottles of its Crémant de Loire per person. The retailer has announced that the restriction will be in place for five days from Friday 27 December to prevent running out of stock.

Priced at £4.99 per bottle, the fizz is expected to fly off shelves as consumers prepare to pop corks to usher in the start of 2025.

“We want everyone to be able to raise a glass of quality wine this festive period, without breaking the bank,” said Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying for Aldi. “By lowering the price of our exquisite Crémant de Loire to just £4.99, and introducing a two-bottle limit, we’re ensuring more customers can experience this exceptional sparkling wine at an unbelievable price.”

The Loire Valley is the number one sparkling wine production region in France, outside Champagne. It’s also one of the greenest, with 80% of Loire Valley estates committed to organic, biodynamic, and French environmental certifications like HEV (High Environmental Value – Levels 1,2,3) ), Terra Vitis, and Agri Confiance.

Hero of 2024

This year demand has sky-rocketed for Crémant, as consumers seek out quality bubbles at lower prices than rival fizz styles, including Champagne.

Sparkling wine producer Henkell Freixenet told db earlier this year that its global sales of Crémant had soared by 16% compared with the year before. Vanessa Lehmann, head of communications, attributed the popularity of Crémant to having “a method of production identical to that of Champagne but at a price comparable to that of Prosecco.”

Appellation regulations for Crémant de Bourgogne, for instance, state that the base wine must be aged on fine lees for a minimum of nine months, and for up to 12 months before bottling, although many wines exceed these requirements.

In fact, this year is expected to set a new sales record for Crémant de Bourgogne in the UK: the year to August 2024 saw volume sales grew 6.22% compared to the previous year, to 555,193 bottles, while value sales in the same period increased 8.35% to €2.92 million.

UK retailer Waitrose also revealed in March that its Crémant sales were up 51% year-on-year.

Price debate

Much like Aldi’s Specially Selected Cairanne, priced at £3.49, the sub-£5 price of the retailer’s Crémant de Loire is likely to raise concern among some members of the wine trade.

Three bottles of the Cairanne were sold every second during the launch day of the southern Rhône red blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan. However, selling quality wine at rock-bottom prices could also pile on additional pressure for producers to cut costs in ways that compromise quality or strain resources.

Aldi has claimed that its low prices are made possible by its “efficient business model” and says that rather than using cost savings to boost margins, the retailer “passes our savings on to customers”. db explores the issue in more detail here.

Either way, it looks like Crémant is here to stay, and its trajectory is expected to continue climbing throughout 2025. However, the duty changes that are due to come into force in the UK on 1 February are unlikely to give Crémant any real edge over rival sparkling wines Prosecco, Cava and Champagne, as the average ABV for all tends to hover around the 12% mark.

According to AC Nielsen MAT figures, Champagne outperformed both Cava and Prosecco in the UK during 2024.

Crémant de Bourgogne: a sparkling performance

Waitrose outperforms the market with Champagne and Crémant sales