by Hervé Lalau
An article in the most recent edition of the French financial magazine, Economie Matin, counsels all French wine regions to take a lesson from the successful business model developed in Champagne. According to the authors analysis, the key to
the bubbly region s success is a strict separation of labour. Upstream, 15,000 growers control 85% of the vineyard and supply grapes; downstream, shippers develop brands, market and sell the elaborated product. The individual brands target different segments of the market from entry level price points (Nicolas Feuillatte) through mainstream (Moet & Chandon) and quality (Bollinger, Deutz) to luxury (Dom Perignon, Roederer Cristal). In total, the110 brands and 115 cooperatives that control 70% of all sales and 92% of all exports own only 15% of the vineyard area. The result, according to the study, is that Champagne with a total annual production of 300 million bottles and sales of 3.4 billion Euros assures 13 to 15 percent of the French commercial surplus.
