The European Union has paid France €160m to destroy surplus wine as prices “collapsed” due to falling sales.
France’s wine surplus has been blamed on a combination factors, including the increasing popularity of craft beer, the cost of living crisis and overproduction. Wine consumption has fallen by as much as 34% in some EU countries – while wine production across the bloc rose by 4%.
The EU has now stepped in with a huge payout. The fund, which the French government has topped up to €200m, will be used to buy up unsold wine – with the alcohol it contains set to be used in items such as hand sanitiser, cleaning products and perfume.
Money will also be made available for winegrowers who to diversify into other crops, such as olives, in a bid to reduce overproduction. France’s Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said the aim was to stop “prices collapsing… so that wine-makers can find sources of revenue again”.
Fesneau said the wine industry needs to “look to the future, think about consumer changes … and adapt”. The BBC reports that European Commission data shows that, for the year to June, wine consumption has fallen 7% in Italy, 10% in Spain, 15% in France, 22% in Germany and 34% in Portugal.
Meanwhile, wine production across the EU – which is the world’s largest wine-making area – rose 4%.
