This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Champagne sales hit by cocktails and cava
The rise of cocktails and cava is affecting Champagne sales in the London on-trade.
“Everywhere you go there seems to be a cocktail list that is interesting and exciting and that is definitely cannibalising wine list sales,” said Damian Carrington, sales and marketing director for Fields, Morris & Verdin (FMV).
He told the drinks business that the demand for Champagne has dipped in bars and restaurants partly due to the economic climate in Europe but also because of the greater availability of good cocktails.
He also explained that selling more cocktails made financial sense for on-trade outlets. “The GP [gross profit] on a cocktail is much bigger than it is for Champagne,” he said.
Further, the emergence of companies like Funkin, which supply ready-made fruit purees, and other drink-making ingredients, means, “it doesn’t take a highly skilled bartender to make a good cocktail.”
Meanwhile, sales of sparkling wine are also affecting Champagne’s performance, he believes, judging in particular by the demand for FMV’s new cava brand Raventós i Blanc, which the wholesale company took on at the end of 2010.
“We are really shocked at how well it is doing… it has gone beyond the traditional Spanish restaurant. And I definitely think cava is taking business from Champagne.
Continuing he said, “People are more happy to be seen drinking cava than Champagne and the lower price of cava means you can put it in cocktails.”
“All sparkling is doing well,” he added, mentioning Prosecco too.
“I think there is a mood that people feel they can’t be seen to be drinking Champagne like we saw at the end of 2008,” he surmised.
Speaking of the London on-trade more generally, he said that “there is definitely an Old World vibe at the moment… although part of that is exchange rate driven.”
“There is a move towards more elegant styles of wine with more balance and finesse,” he continued, adding, “and while you can find these wines in the New World as well, they are being scuppered by the exchange rate.”
As party specialists we have noticed the same thing over the last 18 months or so: With weddings it is still Champagne all the way but when it comes to 30ths & 40ths cocktails are now the default aperitif. 50th’s / wedding anniversaries etc are still on fizz. This is obviously not ideal for wine merchants as selling bubbles is obviously more convenient (esp if
the goods are on sale or return) and makes us more margin! The low margins on spirits make them not worth selling and mean we cannot offer the level of service we would like.