PARIS: Demand for LVMH’s champagne brands is moderating this year after the boom that followed Covid-19 lockdowns, according to a top executive at the luxury conglomerate.
There was a “general sense of revenge pleasure,” in 2021 and 2022 after consumers were stuck at home, Moët Hennessy chief executive officer Philippe Schaus said in an interview.
The drinks and wines division he oversees generated about 7.5% of first-half revenue at parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.
“This year is a bit more complicated, because this effect of Covid is fading out, and there’s a lot of inflation in all countries,” Schaus said. “So we see that we are going back to normal.”
Schaus pointed to a drop in champagne consumption at home. But other markets are holding up well.
“We have seen this summer that there was no abating of the demand for high-end champagne” in beach and nightclubs across the Greek island of Mykonos and the Italian Riviera, as well as top restaurants in Paris, Schaus said.
Organic sales at the drinks unit fell 3% in the first half, hurt by a slowdown in cognac consumption in the United States. —Bloomberg
