When it comes to cheap sale wines
Consumers don't necessarily pay
But merchants and vintners are losing money
Who is benefiting from this?
"When winegrowers struggle to make ends meet, no link in the chain is innocent. Earlier, Bordeaux wine giant Castel Frères was the subject of a collective protest by local wine growers, demanding that the purchase price of loose wine be increased as much as possible.
In the wake of the demonstrations, Castelle has filed a lawsuit against the French Confederation of National Trade Unions of Agricultural Producers (FNSEA), the Young Farmers Association (JA) and the Viti 33 group, a wine cooperative represented by Didier Couisney, claiming more than 100,000 euros (about 770,000 yuan) in damages.
According to Agence France-Presse, Castel estimates the cost of cleaning up the site and repairing equipment at 68,920 euros, the economic damage due to the blockade of the site at 11,608 euros, and the claim for 20,000 euros for "damage to the corporate image".
The trigger for the protests that erupted in Blanquefort, north of Bordeaux, in February, further fuelled tensions between French vintners and Castella.
At that time, about 100 wine growers gathered in front of the Castelle warehouse to demonstrate, urging the company to "take into account the cost of production" when offering the purchase price, again clashing head-on over the price of bulk wine.
According to the union, all the demonstrators were mobilized in response to the call of FNSEA, the Young Farmers Association (JA) and Viti33, and the demonstrators blocked the entrance and exit of the warehouse, dumping manure, hay, tires and vines at the entrance.
The point of contention regarding the price of bulk wine is that the Bordeaux Wine Industry Association (CIVB) in France requires vintners to pay no less than €1,000 per barrel of wine (900 litres).
However, Guillaume Grandeau, co-secretary general of the Gironde Young Farmers Association (JA), stressed: "In fact, the CIVB cannot ask for this, the price is too low in any case. ”
Guillaume Grandeau points out that a winegrower who wants to live on the minimum wage sells wine for at least 1,300 euros per barrel, but the current price is only 600 to 800 euros.
The demonstrators targeted Castelle because "it is a big wine merchant that affects the Bordeaux market". French growers are not specifically boycotting Castella, but believe that Castelle has the "right to speak" in the market.
Headquartered in Bordeaux, the Castelle Group has nine subsidiaries worldwide and 17 of its 21 châteaus in France, selling 500 million bottles a year, 16 bottles a second, and sales of up to 800 million euros.
At the beginning of April, growers from across the industry held a roundtable with large-scale distributors at the CIVB to discuss the reasonable selling price of wine, but instead of going to court, the matter went to court.
Renaud Jean, a member of Viti 33, was deeply ridiculous about this: "On April 8, everyone was happy to sit down and talk with the big distributors. Now, Bordeaux's largest wine merchant has filed a complaint against the protests. ”
The court's summons listed five charges: obstruction of freedom of movement, infringement of the right to residential protection, damage to the reputation of legal persons, damage to the property of others, and aiding and abetting the commission of unlawful acts. It is reported that the hearing will be held on June 4 at the Bordeaux court.
"There were no trucks at the scene. Jean-Samuel Eynard of the FDSEA said, "The protest itinerary was also public, so they could have shipped the goods a day earlier." I don't deny that there will be some cleanup, waste collection and disposal to be done. Other than that, we will dispute this. ”
In addition, Eynard hinted that the move was more of a politically motivated prosecution and not directly related to the economic losses claimed by Castel. Asking for money is not the goal, but suppressing protests is, Eynard reluctantly said: "We will be locked in a tug-of-war between experts and lawyers." ”
As the head of Viti 33, Didier Cousiney was also named and prosecuted. He confessed that there was nothing to blame. "Since the beginning of the demonstrations, demonstrations or sieges have been carried out on the premise of respecting property. ”
"There was no vandalism. Bastien Mercier, a member of Viti 33, said that "of all the actions of the organization, not a single one has prevented the company from carrying out its business activities and caused a corresponding loss." ”
Bastien Mercier argues: "We ask Castelle to withdraw its complaint, because in the current environment, it is difficult for winegrowers to suffer such a beating. ”
An account claiming to be the Confédération Paysanne de Gironde commented: "This is yet another violation of the union's right to protest. Doesn't the winegrower have no right to object when Castelle buys wine at half or a third of the producer's cost price?"
In the final analysis, this is a chain reaction caused by global economic stagflation, and many wine regions have to face the crisis of overproduction of unsalable wines.
Bordeaux, France's largest AOC appellation, currently has 110,000 hectares of vineyards and has been facing a crisis of overproduction for several years.
Even though the French government spent 200 million euros last year to deal with the Bordeaux wine glut, wine growers are increasingly concerned as French wine sales continue to decline.
For more than a year, Bordeaux winegrowers have frequently joined farmers across France in demonstrations, blocking roads in February, disrupting urban traffic and protesting rising production costs.
There's no denying that the industry as a whole seems to be in a vicious circle. In order to boost sales, French retailers like Carrefour will "sell Bordeaux wine cheaply" for 1.66 euros, and some wine merchants continue to drive down the price of bulk wines, and grape growers are struggling to survive and are abandoning their vineyards.
In the long run, this cheap trade is intended to halt the sharp decline in French wine sales and ultimately help winegrowers survive. However, many manufacturers do not agree that it is more important to "survive" first.