"Consumers treat themselves": Henkell Freixenet helps with sparkling wine on the sofa

"Consumers Treat themselves"
Henkell Freixenet helps out with champagne on the sofa

This year there will perhaps be less roaring on New Year's Eve, not welcoming the New Year with a glass of champagne, but that is unthinkable for many people. The sparkling wine producer Henkell Freixenet is relying on the important year-end business despite the Corona restrictions.

The Henkell Freixenet sparkling wine producer is getting through the corona pandemic with little hangover. As a result of the partial lockdown, there are declines in business with the catering, duty free and aviation industries, said the management spokesman, Andreas Brokemper of the German press agency. "But people take the enjoyment they otherwise had while traveling or in the catering trade a little way home." Increased private consumption compensates for some of these losses. Online retail is also picking up.

In relation to the entire group of companies, there has so far been a single-digit decline in sales and sales, the manager explained with a view to business development in the current year. "The development for the market in Germany is even better." Due to the elimination of large celebrations and weddings in the corona pandemic as very special occasions, champagne is sold less internationally. Instead, the demand for high-quality prosecco and sparkling wine is increasing. "Consumers treat themselves to something in this phase." For Henkell Freixenet, it is now crucial for the important year-end business that the ability to deliver is guaranteed despite the restrictions in the corona pandemic, emphasized Brokemper.

December is the most important month

The company generates around 15 percent of its annual business in the last month of the year. Because on New Year's Eve and also at Christmas, the demand for sparkling wine is particularly high. "We are optimistically curious," said the management spokesman about his expectations for December. After the takeover of the Spanish supplier Freixenet, the company belonging to the Oetker Group reported sales of more than one billion euros for the first time last year and, through the merger, became the world market leader for sparkling wine with a sales market share of 9.7 percent. Net sales were 1.056 billion euros (excluding sparkling wine tax). The group's total sales amounted to 422.3 million bottles.

Traditionally, profit information is not provided. With the takeover of Freixenet, the number of employees rose to 3556 worldwide by the end of last year. There are 603 employees in Germany. Brokemper explained that the two companies had already grown together before the corona pandemic began. This has made it much easier to operate as a globally positioned company in the past few months despite the corona restrictions. There had not been any changes to locations, nor had staff been cut because of the corona crisis.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Companies (t) Corona crisis (t) Consumption in Germany