EU pays France €160m to destroy surplus wine as costs ‘collapse’

The European Union has paid France €160m to destroy surplus wine as costs “collapsed” as a result of falling gross sales.

France’s wine surplus has been blamed on a mix elements, together with the growing reputation of craft beer, the price of dwelling disaster and overproduction. Wine consumption has fallen by as a lot as 34% in some EU international locations – whereas wine manufacturing throughout the bloc rose by 4%.

The EU has now stepped in with an enormous payout. The fund, which the French authorities has topped as much as €200m, will probably be used to purchase up unsold wine – with the alcohol it accommodates set for use in objects equivalent to hand sanitiser, cleansing merchandise and fragrance.

Money will even be made accessible for winegrowers who to diversify into different crops, equivalent to olives, in a bid to cut back overproduction. France’s Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau mentioned the purpose was to cease “prices collapsing… so that wine-makers can find sources of revenue again”.

Fesneau mentioned the wine trade must “look to the future, think about consumer changes … and adapt”. The BBC reviews that European Commission knowledge exhibits that, for the yr to June, wine consumption has fallen 7% in Italy, 10% in Spain, 15% in France, 22% in Germany and 34% in Portugal.

Meanwhile, wine manufacturing throughout the EU – which is the world’s largest wine-making space – rose 4%.