The French government has announced that 200 million euros will be used for the destruction of surplus wine production to support struggling producers and raise prices, reports RTE.
Several of France’s major wine regions, particularly the famed Bordeaux region, are struggling due to a host of issues stemming from changing eating habits, lifestyle crises and the aftermath of Covid-19.
According to the local farmers’ association, the drop in demand for wine has led to overproduction, a sharp drop in prices and serious financial problems for a third of the Bordeaux region’s wine producers.
Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said the EU’s initial 160 million euro wine destruction fund had been increased by the French government to 200 million euros.
The money was “aimed at stopping prices collapsing and so that wine-makers can find sources of revenue again,” but he stressed that the industry needed to “look to the future, think about consumer changes … and adapt,” reports RTE.
The southwestern Languedoc region, the country’s largest wine region known for its full-bodied red wines, has also been hit hard by declining wine demand.
Alcohol from tainted wine can be sold to companies for use in non-food products such as hand sanitizers, cleaning products, and perfumes.
“We’re producing too much, and the sale price is below the production price, so we’re losing money,” Jean-Philippe Granier from the Languedoc wine producers’ association said earlier this month, reports RTE.
The agriculture ministry announced a €57m investment in June to finance around 9,500 hectares of vines in the Bordeaux region, with other public funds available to encourage wine growers to switch to other products such as olives.
Europe last experienced the so-called “wine lake” in the mid-2000s, which forced the European Union to reform its agricultural policy to reduce the huge overproduction of wine-fuelled by its own subsidies.
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