Champagne is enjoying undeniable success in Reunion as it is everywhere in the world.. On the island, the fine bubbles are today embodied in a particular name, that of Nicolas Feuillatte, founder of a brand that has become the third best-selling in the world, the first in France, and the first in Reunion. We wanted to get to know the company behind Reunion Island’s favorite champagne brand better., the youngest of the Champagne houses, 45 ans, and the reasons for its success. The Nicolas Feuillatte cooperative union brings together more than 5,000 member winegrowers. Before the pandemic, Nicolas Feuillatte had just broken a new production record in 2019 with 11,2 million bottles sold. Christophe Juarez, general director of the wine group Nicolas Feuillatte, makes us understand the originality of this Champagne House like no other and the keys to its success. He also announces surprising new products intended for the French Overseas Territories for the end of the year. Or how to “Release the bubbles ! » in our tropics !
How to explain such rapid and considerable growth of the Nicolas Feuillatte cooperative ?
Launched in 1976, our house has benefited from the global economic boom, of the emergence of the luxury market and the transformation of wine consumption. We have also built the success of the House around the consumer and their purchasing methods., by ensuring a strong presence in the booming mass distribution sector in the 1980s, as well as in planes and tourist places. Culture and progress in oenology, the opening of wine estates, consumer curiosity has brought wine to the high-end segments. Champagne, and Nicolas Feuillatte in particular, benefited from this appetite for the art of living and gastronomy.
Given the current context, how is the champagne market looking as the next holidays approach ?
In terms of consumption, the first six months of the year were marked by a recovery as dazzling as was the brutal fall caused by the health crisis and the containment measures taken by many countries in 2020. Many of our customers loyal to the CHR networks, to those of the nightlife or accustomed to traveling intensely to the four corners of the globe, have not found their rituals, constrained by the pandemic threat. And yet, the speed of the resumption of champagne sales was very high and demonstrates the great attachment to our appellation. Many countries, traditionally strong consumers, saw their figures accelerate to quite remarkable proportions, whether they are on the American continent or in Europe. We have noted a massive shift in sales towards home consumption from which wine merchant circuits have benefited., e.commerce and mass retail brands. Expected sales growth could be around 15-18%. This tremendous ability of champagne to weather the most difficult periods of our contemporary history says a lot about the fervor that still surrounds the ritual of champagne., worldwide.
Promote products especially for the holidays ? Are there any new features planned? ?
We are presenting a limited edition in the French Overseas Territories, ‘Stopover in African Land’, which wears a very contemporary Wax print to joyfully adorn the Sélection Demi-Sec champagne. The famous fabric is the backdrop that highlights the emblem of our House. We worked closely with the Center of Fashion Designers of Cameroon (CCMC) on design.
otherwise, we will also reveal a brand new brand platform centered around a strong positioning including the “Let’s free the bubbles” campaign. ! ” worked in illustration and which claims the difference of Nicolas Feuillatte : non-code champagne which develops on a unique cooperative model with 5,000 winegrowers.
Before the crisis, the Reunion champagne market exceeded one million bottles. Do you consider the Reunion, and more generally the French Overseas Territories, as small international markets or as part of the French market ?
The French Overseas Territories are historically linked to our international organization and the official statistics of the Champagne Committee consider them as such.. It's not a small market, because our sales there are exceptional. Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte is indeed the favorite champagne of the French overseas ! From a practical point of view, our teams manage these markets as international because they are required to travel to neighboring countries, in the Caribbean, in Mauritius, and to tour throughout the African continent.
What are your distribution channels in Reunion? ?
The brand is distributed in large retailers in Reunion Island, in the Duty Free store at Roland Garros Airport, and you also find our champagne on the regional company Air Austral. In addition to distribution, we must also salute the Reunionese consumer. Indeed, an unprecedented study carried out exclusively on the territory in April by IPSOS demonstrated that Nicolas Feuillatte enjoys almost twice as much awareness in Reunion as in mainland France – where the loyalty of our customers has also been highlighted. It's exceptional !
The Nicolas Feuillatte range is one of the most extensive and complete of the Champagne houses.. Are all your champagnes available locally ?
Each of our markets has access to a selection of wines depending on the nature and development potential of its clientele.. This is why we are one of the rare houses to design vintages dedicated to each specific distribution sector.. Large distribution in Reunion and Duty Free, with the airport store and Air Austral, have different ranges and assortments.
Nicolas Feuillatte has shaken up the champagne market, a few years ago, by making it accessible to everyone. How did you manage to create good quality champagnes sold for less than 20 euros in supermarkets? ?
We have grown very quickly by diversifying our distribution channels and opting for an omni-channel approach.. This allowed us to become the third largest operator in the world and to sell more than 10 million bottles.. Before we start, we asked ourselves the question of the best match to the needs of the market, even before receiving our first grapes. We arrived in 1976 in front of very well-known houses, more statutory, and had to justify our existence beyond the exceptional personality and energy of our creator, Mr Nicolas Feuillatte. We displayed our ambitions with a famous slogan, “Epernay, New York, Elsewhere ", and seized the opportunity to place our wines in the accessible luxury niche, booming at the time. In short, we created a new category, at the crossroads between big brands and top prices.
In addition to attractive prices, Nicolas Feuillatte defines itself as the champagne “of new lifestyles”. What are the new consumption patterns and new uses of champagne? ?
More than a new style, these are the consumption occasions that we want to highlight, like serving our champagnes throughout a meal in food/wine pairings. We must not forget that champagne is a wine ! Beyond, Nicolas Feuillatte relaunched the idea of enchantment, relaxation, of the consumption of champagne at any time and in all circumstances. No need to wait for a special occasion to open a bottle of champagne and give a special dimension to this moment of sharing. Let's release the bubbles !
Should the product be trivialized to make it more attractive? ?
On the contrary, we must maintain the magic and the gesture associated with opening a bottle of champagne with two or more people around a magnum ! The true luxury that champagne symbolizes is making things happen effortlessly, without difficulty, in great simplicity. It is the charm of our wines to be seductive and charming from the first sip... And yet, if you knew how much care must be taken when selecting grapes, the precision of the assembly, the quality of the winemaking, aging time in the cellar ! Each stage of development is crucial. It is surely the most complex wine to master.
With prices as attractive as yours, Is this just a volume strategy?, and doesn’t this strategy have its limits in a market like Reunion?, who has potential, but which cannot be extended forever ?
We do not consider price as the customer's primary motivation. The Reunion market is very dynamic and the strong consumer loyalty to the style of our champagne wines is our best weapon..
If you had to define in a few words what characterizes Nicolas Feuillatte in the world of champagne, which would you choose ?
I think we symbolize the renewal of the discourse around Champagne, the youth and dynamism of a bold brand, his impertinence, its proximity and affinities with the consumer, the infinite variety of vintages and the precision of our blends.
Nicolas Feuillatte brings together 82 cooperatives ! How is your cooperative model unique? ?
A cooperative is the extension of a winegrower’s operation. In a context of poor harvest like 2021, we are a crisis absorber, limiting revenue peaks and aiming for the long term with contracts that guarantee opportunities and profit-sharing. We are a real development accelerator for our members who can work with us to see their crops sold all over the world.. Not to mention the pride of belonging to a leading actor.
Next December the merger with another large cooperative is announced, Castelnau.
Why this merger ? Does the future of French champagne require a race for greatness and performance? ?
The goal is not to be the greatest, but the best in its category. We are able to respond to multiple market opportunities. Converging on this common vision, the CV-CNF and the Coopérative Régionale des Vins de Champagne wish to structure a merger that optimizes skills, the brands and positions acquired to make it an ambitious entity. The parties will thus be able to contribute to building a new group supported by a collective of 6,000 winegrowers and among the top five leaders.
The year 2020 saw, with the health crisis, a 20% drop in champagne shipments. How did you get through this ordeal? ? Did it force you to reduce your production ?
Priority was given to the health and safety of our employees. We completely stopped production for six weeks in March 2020, which is unprecedented. We fell back below the 10 million bottle mark for the 2020 financial year, mainly due to the closure of Travel Retail and CHR.
The Reunion economy is currently facing the constraints of rising freight costs and the shortage of containers.. Are you also affected by this situation to serve the Reunion market? ?
Like everyone else, we are impacted by this difficulty and must anticipate.
Fifth oldest champagne house, Maison Abelé 1757 was bought by Nicolas Feuillatte. Does the development of Nicolas Feuillatte also involve the purchase of historic houses? ?
Forget Nicolas Feuillatte. We are here in a unique group approach which has a cooperative activity and independently manages a Trading House. The two entities have a different mission and status, separate grape supplies and two cellar managers. It is all the richness of this new model which allows us to be interested in all facets of the market, caring for the independence of this regional nugget nestled in Reims.
Do we predict the effects of global warming on the Champagne vineyards and its consequences on the production of champagne? ? Is an impact already perceptible and how are you preparing for this development? ?
Climate change is knocking on the door of the Champagne region. Winegrowers must consider a rapid change in the management of their northern vineyards, a delicate turning point to make for a particularly fragmented plot organization. More investments, of professionalism, robotics, technicality and excellence of execution will be necessary. We are already hit hard by sequences of impressive calamities, like this year marked by severe frost, violent hail events, storms, landslides and heavy rainfall. The last mild weather window warmed us up for a few days, but it will be insufficient to redress the complex nature of a heterogeneous raw material in more than one respect. We support our member winegrowers in their reflections.
Comments collected by Carole Manote
