If the drought had already affected production and employment in the cava sector, now its impact has reached sales. The lack of water, especially in the last two harvests, has already caused a contraction in the availability of bottles and in the first nine months of 2024 volume has fallen from 170 million bottles to 149 million bottles12.28% less. The shortage caused the sector leader, Freixenet, to look for an alternative sparkling wine in Germany, which has given the sector the finishing touch in one of its most important international markets.
Javier Pagés, president of the DO Cava, revealed this Wednesday the figures for the drink until the month of October, marked by the decline in international sales. In Spain the drop is 3.67%, but in international markets it reaches 15.81%. “If there are less grapes, there is less cava” lamented the leader. And he added: “In my career I have never known a drought like the current one”.
“Inflation may have had some weight, since the rise in prices requires an adaptation, but the main problem has been the reduction in supply,” Pagés explained. The average increase has been around 15%, partly due to the rise in the price of grapes. With this, some wineries had to prioritize clients and abandon the least profitable ones.
And the 2023 harvest was 213.8 million kilos, 30% less than the usual harvests. Already in 2022 the figure fell to 276.8 million kilos. This season it stood at 219.5 million kilos, so it is expected that in the next campaign sales will move in similar volumes.
For 2025, Pagés does expect a better harvest due to the rains of recent months, which have given water to the vineyards.
But Most of the decline is explained by the collapse of the German market“which alone explains 60% of the drop” from 22 million bottles to 9.9 million bottles. The reason: the lack of product and Freixenet’s decision to replace the cava with another alternative sparkling wine made with grapes outside the DO Cava, although also from Catalan and Spanish vineyards.
In spring, Freixenet justified the decision by a 45% drop in the harvest, which made it “impossible” to supply markets such as Germany and Austria. For this reason, they launched this alternative sparkling wine “while there is not enough production.”
With the reduction in the German market, Belgium now leads international sales, which represent 68% of the total. The United Kingdom, another historically important market, fell 15.44%. Only Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands have increased purchasing volumes compared to 2023.
The decline in cava is in line with the fall in champagne, which has also been forced to raise prices. Not so with prosecco, which grows at the expense of other sparkling wines due to its short production period. “It allows them to be much more agile,” he compared.
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