French drinks export boom led by Cognac and Champagne

The world cannot get enough of French wines and spirits with exports up 14% over the first six months of 2022.

Between January and June 2022, France shipped €9 billion of wines and spirits around the world, said Olivier Becht, minister delegate in charge of foreign trade.

The record sales exceeded the pre-Covid crisis level of exports (€7 billion in 2019).

Saying that “wines and spirits are at the heart of national agri-food exports”, Becht reported sales had been boosted by Cognac (€2 billion, +9% in value) and Champagne (€2 billion, +32% in value and +14% in volume).

The leading destination for French wines and spirits remains the United States, accounting for 28% of sector exports (€2.5 billion), with a strong presence of Cognac (40% of shipments) and Champagnes (16%), Vitisphere reported.

Having recently spoken with his US counterpart, Katherine Tai, over trade differences between the two nations, Becht said: “the state of mind has completely changed between the Trump and Biden administrations."

Image: Marco Simola, Scop.io