Alcohol consumption in Europe has fallen sharply this year. To stabilize prices, the French government wants to take excess wine off the market and compensate wine producers.
The French government wants to spend 200 million euros to take excess alcohol off the market. France will add 40 million euros to the 160 million euros in EU funding made available for the purpose, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said.
Demand for wine has fallen sharply this year, prompting overproduction. The wine ban is now aimed at stabilizing prices and saving French wine producers. “We are producing more and the selling price is lower than the production price, so we are losing money,” said Jean-Philippe Granier of the Languedoc Regional Wine Producers Association.
The French government had already announced in 2022 that it wanted to spend 160 million euros on distilling surplus wine into industrial alcohol.
A third of the wine producers difficulties
According to the local wine producers’ association, one in three businesses in the region where Bordeaux wines are produced is in financial trouble.
In the long term, a trend towards less alcohol consumption and a shift in consumption towards more beer has been observed for some time. The wine industry has also been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus and large-scale closures in the catering industry. Added to this is the energy crisis and high inflation – resulting in households losing purchasing power and likely to do without non-essential items such as wine.
Steep decline in alcohol consumption in Europe
After Information from the European Union Commission Wine consumption is down seven percent this year in Italy, ten percent in Spain, 15 percent in France, 22 percent in Germany and 34 percent in Portugal. On the other hand, production rose by four per cent.
In June, Brussels authorities announced emergency aid for the sector, including money to eliminate overproduction. Denatured wine liquor can be sold to companies for use in products such as hand sanitizers, cleaning products, or perfumes.
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