Rising raw material costs and a shortage of wine bottles are likely to cause increases in the price of wine in France over the coming weeks and months, due to the impact of both Covid and the war in Ukraine.
Wine bottle manufacturers in Ukraine have been affected by the conflict, in a market that was already feeling the continued effects of the health crisis recovery and rising raw material costs.
Glass prices are now 20% higher than they were a year ago. This is also due to the rising price of fuel and gas, on which glass manufacturers depend to heat their ovens.
The price of cardboard packaging, corks, and even labels has also risen.
Wine bottle changes
One winemaker in Hérault (Occitanie), Régis Pichon, told TF1 that his company was short of 7,000 bottles for its white wine, and only found some at the last moment.
He said: “They are not the shade or weight we would normally like, but we have to make do with whatever we can find.”
Rising costs for consumers
Another winemaker in Hérault, Thierry Julien, said that he now has “no choice” but to raise his prices and pass the extra costs on to the consumer, especially as the shortage may get worse in the coming months.
He has stockpiled the maximum number of bottles he can so far, to last until mid-May, but needs 30,000 bottles each month to maintain his normal level of activity.
He said: “I'll be able to hold out until mid-May, and I've been told that a lorry will be arriving at the end of May but it’s a mystery as to whether it will come.”
The war in Ukraine is having a knock-on effect on the prices of many raw materials in France and across Europe, prompting a rise in the cost of everyday goods such as petrol, diesel, sunflower oil, chocolate, biscuits, clothes and toilet paper.
Read more: Sunflower oil shortage prompts recipe changes to shop foods in France
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