Beaujolais Nouveau Released: Price Trend Maintained Despite High Costs

Beaujolais Nouveau, a new French wine, was released for sale on November 21.

Import costs rose due to the weak yen and high fuel prices, but there was a noticeable trend among importers to keep prices unchanged due to sluggish demand.

It is said that the import cost of Beaujolais has risen 5% from the previous year due to the impact of the exchange rate. The costs related to production are also said to be on the rise overall, due in part to the rising cost of labor and electricity.

One of the reasons why prices have to remain unchanged even with higher costs is the declining popularity of Beaujolais; imports in 2024 are expected to be on par with 2023, but they have been on a downward trend for the past 10 years.

The reason for the slump is believed to be the diversification of wine types and price ranges, giving consumers more choices.

For example, “Japan Wine,” made from domestic grapes and produced domestically, has, by contrast, increased its presence; the sales of the Japan Wine in 2023 (new wine, by value) is said to have increased by about 17% since 2019. Japan Wine accounts for about 5% of the domestic wine market in Japan, which is small compared to import wines, which account for over 60% of the market, but it is increasing its presence.

With the rise of Japanese wines, competition is expected to intensify in the future, and this will continue to be an austere time for Beaujolais Nouveau.

(source) https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3cce685c9437bb0dadb8b83c97a1c9b24b538980