Crisis in cava country: due to the extreme drought, the grape harvest is once again disappointing, resulting in less cava being produced. Belgian supermarkets notice that stocks are more limited, but are not increasing their prices for the time being.
It has been extremely dry in some Spanish areas for months. The vines are suffering, especially in the region around Barcelona. That is precisely where large cava houses such as Freixenet get their grapes, but they are sometimes only half as numerous as usual. Due to the third consecutive poor harvest year, Spanish sparkling wine growers have to look for other solutions, so they are sourcing grapes in other Spanish areas. But you cannot process one grape twice, and so the result is that less cava is produced overall. Demand does not decrease, so there is only one logical consequence: the price increases.
What do our supermarkets say?
“But that reasoning does not apply to Delhaize,” says spokesman Roel Dekelver. “We have long-term contracts with Codorniu and Perelada, among others, so we still get enough bottles and do not have to increase our price.” Although both bottles now cost 9.49 euros, 30 cents more than last year. “A minimal price increase, but nothing more will be added this year.”
Lidl also guarantees that you will not have to dig extra deep into your pockets in the coming months. Arestel Brut cost 4.99 euros a year ago, costs 4.99 euros today and will also cost 4.99 euros this summer. “We are not experiencing any problems, but we do notice that it is more difficult to obtain a large stock of cava,” says spokeswoman Isabelle Colbrandt. “As a result, the purchase price is slightly higher, but not to such an extent that we have to pass it on to the customer. I cannot promise whether that will still be the case after the summer.” Although it does not seem that Spanish sparkling wine will suddenly become a full euro more expensive.
At Colruyt they do not rule out a price increase, although they emphasize that they will always compare with competitors in order to be the cheapest. “You certainly cannot tar all cava with the same brush,” says spokesperson Eva Biltereyst. “We were able to purchase an equal volume of Gran Baron and Mas Pere – although that was not a given. We have less stock than usual of our other house brand, Recoda. Because stocks are under so much pressure, we will certainly be promoting less emphatically than in the past.”
Cava giant Freixenet is laying off 80% of its employees due to drought in Catalonia
Flemish ‘champagne farmer’ explains why sales are plummeting: “Selling 100 bottles at once, we don’t see that anymore” (+)
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