LVMH, the company behind premium champagne brands like Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Dom Pérignon, says there is “pent-up demand for luxury” and it is “running out of stock” as demand continues to rise.
The chief executive of Moët Hennessy, Philippe Schaus, said 2022 would be “a fabulous year” for its champagne – which starts at about £40 a bottle and can runs into the thousands, according to recent reports, its stocks are running low in the company’s network of cellars that stretch for 17 miles under the town of Epernay in France’s Champagne region.
“We are running out of stock on our best champagnes. As people are coming out of Covid there’s been pent up demand for luxury, enjoyment and travelling,” Schaus told Bloomberg in an interview at New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday.
The leap in demand had been so big that, internally, the company was referring to the current boom as “the roaring 20s”, a reference to the economic prosperity of a century ago, he said.
Although Schaus did not state which champagnes were running low, or how low stocks had fallen, LVMH had mentioned in the last financial results that its “Champagne Maisons” had “enjoyed excellent momentum, which increased pressure on supplies”.
Overall, champagne and wine sales were up 32 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 compared with 2021.
The comments suggest that families will be forced to raise a toast with alternative sparkling wine over the festive season. Jean-Jacques Guiony, finance chief of LVMH, Moët Hennessy’s parent company, has previously warned that stocks may not last until Christmas.
He said in October: “We still had bottles available, which will not necessarily be the case in [the fourth quarter].”
He said champagne sales were “very strong” in Europe and “above all, in the US”.
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