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Summary of our market study
The world cognac market is worth over $5.5 billion. The value of French exports exceeds €3.7 billion.
The Cognac market slowed down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, with a drop of 11.3% in volume and 22.3% in value, but recovered strongly in 2021.
Cognac production remains geographically limited by AOC regulations in certain French regions.
French cognac market French cognac market
98% of production is exported. Cognac accounts for 75% of French spirits exports, although it represents just over 32% by volume.
The United States and China are major consumers, with the former buying between 110 and 120 million bottles and the latter over 50 million bottles.
Cognac consumption in France represents less than 5% of its total market.
The French largely associate cognac with the professional world, whereas its image in the United States is much more fashionable, often in bars and nightclubs. In China, cognac is particularly prized at social, celebratory and prestige events.
The sector is highly concentrated, with four major conglomerates - Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Martell and Courvoisier - dominating the global market with a combined share of 80%. However, there are many players in the market, including some 4,300 winegrowers and various trading houses and professional distillers.
Cognac market players
- Hennessy from LVMH
- Rémy Martin: the pinnacle of Champagne cognac. The Louis XIII brand is the most prestigious in the sector
- Martell by Pernod-Ricard: Martell is one of the oldest cognac houses
- Courvoisier is now part of the Fortune Brands group.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Presentation and delimitation
Cognac is produced in an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) area, delimited by decree in 1909. The vineyards dedicated to the production of six different crus cover 75,000 hectares, extending over Charente-Maritime, a large part of Charente, and a few communes in Dordogne and Deux-Sèvres. This eau-de-vie belongs to the category of wines and spirits, and is consumed as an aperitif or digestif in France.
The cognac market in France is concentrated, with a small number of players. Alongside the major houses, these players include winegrowers, trading houses, cooperatives and distillers, both professional and "de cru".
For industry players, the cognac market represents steadily rising sales, with average annual growth of 7.6% between 2015 and 2019. The market declined in 2020 due to the health crisis, but will return to pre-crisis levels by 2021.
Most French production is exported internationally (notably to the United States, China and Singapore).
The market is highly concentrated, with four companies sharing 80% of the global market (Henessy with LVMH, Rémy Martin with Rémy Cointreau, Martell with Pernod-Ricard, Courvoisier with Fortune Brands). But competition is increasingly fierce on international markets, and other types of brandy, such as armagnac and calvados, are also trying to export to the USA and Asia.
The low consumption in France can be explained in part by the way people view cognac: a drink consumed mainly in the business world. In the United States, cognac enjoys a more "trendy" image, and is available in the country's bars and nightclubs.finally, in China, cognac is considered a beverage mainly consumed at social events (receptions) or social gatherings (nightclubs and bars).
The trend is towards "premiumization" of products, with the aim of standing out from the crowd, with bottles of cognac selling at ever-increasing unit prices. In addition, growers are keen to improve their relationship with the environment, for example, by limiting their use of pesticides and/or using new, "greener" cultivation techniques.
1.2 A long-term growth market worldwide
The overall value of the cognac market is growing faster than global consumption, due to higher prices.
Between **** and ****, shipments increased by +**.*% in volume and +**.*% in value. This represents a total of ***.* million bottles (***) from Cognac.[***], shipments are back on the rise in ****.
**.*% of Cognac production, or nearly ***.* million bottles, ...
1.3 Cognac: a prestigious French spirit
Cognac is one of the most prestigious spirits, alongside Armagnac, aided by major investments by French luxury goods companies (***).
The cognac market represents sales of nearly *.* billion euros by ****. This figure is rising steadily, with the exception of **** due to the health crisis, which saw a **% drop in market size. By ...
1.4 Cognac exports head for Asia and America
Spirits are still consumed less by the French than by the inhabitants of foreign countries (***), who associate them with everyday, high-end beverages. As a result, most spirits produced in France are exported internationally. In ****, spirits exports represented a volume of ***.* million liters, compared with just *** million liters sold in France in ...
1.5 A market impacted by the Covid-19 crisis in 2020
In ****, *** million bottles of cognac were sold worldwide, notably in the United States (***). [***] In ****, the year of the coronavirus-related health crisis, *** million bottles were shipped, representing an **.*% drop in volume compared to ****. The drop in value was even greater, reaching -**.*% between **** and ****. The market was therefore heavily impacted in ****.
However, ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Alcohol consumption down in France
Year after year, alcohol consumption continues to decline in France. This is a structural trend, linked to a more urban population that is increasingly health-conscious and identifies less and less with "old" alcoholic products such as wine. [***]
The drop in consumption mainly concerns wines, where per capita consumption fell by *.*% on ...
2.2 Cognac consumption varies by country
The United States and China are the main importers of cognac, which requires producers to know the local clientele in order to produce adapted products.
However, despite its importance in French spirits exports, cognac accounts for a small share of worldwide spirits consumption. Whisky and aniseed-flavored spirits together account for **.*%. Cognac ...
2.3 Cognac, the "cocktail culture" and its place in the CHR network
Cognac and "cocktail culture
Cognac tends to adapt to the local culture of the country into which it is imported, used according to the image that local consumers have of it. For example, cognac has a special place in American mixology, where it is consumed mainly by young people (***), in the ...
2.4 Cognac has long been a favourite among a segment of the American population
According to the Alcohol Consumption Tracker study, published by IPSOS in ****, the black community has been a driving force for cognac sales in volume in the United States: black cognac drinkers account for **% of the market. In contrast, WASPs (***) have a certain predilection for whisky.
Cognac has been prized by the ...
3 Market structure
3.1 A sector that continues to consolidate
Many players are active in the cognac market, as many operations are involved in making cognac, from grape production to international product marketing. The négociant houses (***). Their role is to obtain supplies from winegrowers and distillers, package the eau-de-vie purchased and then ship it. [***]
The role of the winegrowers is ...
3.2 An AOC that concentrates production geographically
The cognac appellation is an appellation d'origine contrôlée (***). [***]
Source: ****
This geographical limitation imposed on the AOC, together with the Cognac Business Plan created by the BNIC, has led to tensions between cognac houses and winegrowers, with the former demanding authorization to plant more vines (***). For example, the houses requested ...
3.3 Slow, complex production
The production of cognac must comply with very precise specifications, which require the various liquids to respect certain alcohol and sugar levels. Between * and ** liters of wine must be used to produce * liter of cognac. [***]
The main element differentiating cognac from other brandies is the obligation for distillers to carry out ...
3.4 Distribution mainly through supermarkets in France
Although limited, cognac sales in France are mainly made in GMS (***). [***] The share of sales in CHR fell sharply in **** compared with ****, from **.*% to **.*%. This drop can be attributed mainly to the closure of cafés and restaurants during the confinements in France.
Breakdown of physical sales by distribution channel, by ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Different cognacs for different ages
All cognacs can be distinguished mainly by the time they have spent ageing under conditions set by very strict specifications (***). [***]
Source: ****
Houses may decide to make a vintage cognac (***).
4.2 Very high prices compared to other spirits
The scarcity of cognac bottles, and the high concentration of the market around * houses (***), enable producers to set particularly high prices compared to other spirits, especially as foreign demand is less price-sensitive than for other spirits.
Thus, it is possible to distinguish several price ranges, which place products in a range ...
4.3 Premiumization and development of organic cognac
Premiumization of the offer
One of the main trends of recent years has been the premiumization of products, with bottles of cognac selling at ever higher unit prices. As a sign of this trend, exports rose by **.*% in value between **** and ****, but by only **.*% in volume. [***]
In fact, producers are increasingly ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Producer specifications
The specifications governing the manufacture of cognac are very strict, which ultimately has consequences for the management of the Charente vineyards. [***]
Harvests are limited by a cognac yield set by decree each year (***).[***]
Vineyards producing AOC cognac may also produce pineau des Charentes or vin de pays charentais. For this reason, ...
5.2 A heavy tax burden
As an alcoholic beverage with a high alcoholic strength by volume, cognac bottles are heavily taxed for public health reasons. [***] In France, alcoholic beverages subject to tax are :
Beverages with an alcoholic strength by volume of over *.*% Beers with an alcoholic strength by volume of over *.*%
Premix drinks are also subject ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Company positioning
- Terroirs Distillers
- Painturaud Cognac
- Cognac AE Dor
- Cognac Augier
- Bache-Gabrielsen
- Château de Cognac
- Bisquit et Dubouché (Campari France)
- Chabasse
- Château de Plassac
- Cognac Rastignac - Château de Plassons
- Cognac Claude Chatelier - Maison Ferrand
- DEAU Cognac - Domaine des Moisans
- Cognac Auguste Dupuy
- Cognac Gautier
- Grand Breuil - Maison Tessendier
- H.Mounier Cognac
- Hardy Cognac
- Hine Cognac
- Cognac Jules Gautret - Maison Ansac
- Cognac Larsen
- Louis Bouron Cognac
- Louis Royer Cognac
- Cognac Meukow - Cie de Guyenne
- Cognac Montaubert
- Monnet
- Natol Maison Barbotin
- Normandin Mercier
- Maison Peyrat
- Cognac Planat
- Prince Hubert de Polignac
- Chalvignac Prulho
- Cognac Prunier
- Maison Roullet-Fransac
- Cognac St Rob
- Tesseron Cognac
- Courvoisier Cognac
- Hennessy
- Martell Cognac
- Brard Blanchard
- Bollinger
- Campari France Distribution
- Beam Suntory
- Rémy Cointreau
- Cognac Louis XIII
- Cognac Delamain
- A-de-Fussigny
- Revico
- TFF Group
- Abecassis
- Campari
List of charts presented in this market study
- Trends in cognac market size
- Breakdown of exports by volume
- Breakdown of exports by value
- Value of cognac exports
- Main cognac-buying countries
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Latest news
Cognac: difficulties in the cognac sector cause Rémy Cointreau's profitability to plummet - 07/06/2024
- - Consolidated sales for 2023-2024: 1.19 billion euros, down 19.2% organically.
- - Cognac division sales down 25%.
- - Weight of cognac in sales: nearly two-thirds.
- - Proportion of profits generated by cognac: 90%.
With Courvoisier, Campari acquires its second cognac for 1 billion euros - 02/05/2024
- Acquisition of Courvoisier by Campari: 1.08 billion euros
- -Campari sales in 2023: 2.9 billion euros
- Founding of Courvoisier: 1828
- Main cognac market: United States
Campari doubles its Aperol production capacity - 22/04/2024
- **Campari's investment in increasing production capacity for Aperol:** 75 million euros over three years.
- - **Campari's position in the global spirits industry:** number six.
- - **Percentage of Campari's spirits production achieved by the Novi Ligure plant last year:** almost 30%.
- - **Campari's total organic growth:** double-digit records for the third consecutive year in 2023.
- - **Aperol sales growth over the last ten years:** fivefold.
- - **Aperol brand sales growth in 2023:** 23%, representing a quarter of Campari sales volumes.
- - **Campari sales in 2023:** 2.9 billion euros.
- - **Number of brands in the Campari portfolio:** fifty.
Never full of acquisitions, Campari ready to revive Courvoisier cognac - 16/12/2023
- campari, the group that owns the Grand Marnier liqueur and the Aperol aperitif, is negotiating with Japan's Beam Suntory to acquire 100% of its Courvoisier cognac for 1.1 billion euros, i.e. almost 5 times sales (230 million euros by 2022).
- Beam Suntory's strategy is to refocus on its premium whiskies (American bourbons, Japanese whiskies, etc.).
- Campari generates sales of 2.7 billion euros
- Half of the growth in recent years has come from acquisitions: Grand Marnier (2016), Trois Rivières rums (2019), Lallier champagne (2020), Picon liqueur in 2022.
- The Italian group has made seven acquisitions in six years in France
- The United States, Campari's biggest market
- To grow in China, where Campari is weak, you need cognac
- alongside Martell (Pernod-Ricard), Hennessy (LVMH) and Rémy Martin (Rémy Cointreau), Courvoisier is the fourth-largest player in this Charentais spirit, with a 5% global market share. 50% of its sales are made in China, where the local spirit, baijiu, remains ultra-dominant (97% of the local market by volume).
- Imported cognacs and whiskies have been in vogue for the past decade. Pernod Ricard, Diageo and LVMH take the lion's share.
- In the United States, Campari already generates nearly 30% of its business.
- Aperol leads Campari's sales (25% of sales in the first nine months of 2023).
- Sales of Wild Turkey bourbon, acquired from Pernod Ricard in 2009, have more than tripled.
Campari falls for Courvoisier, venerable Cognac house - 15/12/2023
- Campari is in exclusive negotiations to acquire 100% of Beam Holding France, owner of the Courvoisier premium cognac brand.
- Fixed purchase price: $1.2 billion
- Campari acquired American bourbon producer Wilderness Trail Distillery LLC in 2022
- Campari had also acquired Grand Marnier in 2016, Bisquit Dubouché in 2017, Trois Rivières and La Mauny in 2019, Champagne Lallier in 2020 and Picon in 2022.
- Founded in 1860, Campari is present in over 190 markets with a portfolio of more than fifty brands
Cognac: Rémy Cointreau a victim of the difficult spirits market - 27/10/2023
- Rémy Cointreau U.S. sales down 26.6% in first half
- The group forecasts a drop in annual sales of between 15% and 20%.
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