France may
be struggling in its wine sales but the boom in Cognac
and Champagne will make it achieve record exports
of over $13 billion in 2007, says the head of exporters'
federation.
Cognac and champagne are leading
the boom in sales, Philippe Casteja, president of
the federation of exporters of wines and spirits in
France, said last Friday. Cognac sales have gone up
16.9 percent from 2006 and champagne 14.5 percent.
Results from the first 10 months
of sales showed that 2007 will be an exceptional year,
with total exports between 9.2 and 9.5 billion euros,
said Casteja.
France sold 8.74 billion euros worth
of wines and spirits in 2006. Sales for 2007 have
already reached 7.6 billion euros, up 9 percent from
the same period in 2006.
United States and Britain are the
biggest buyers of French wine and spirits, followed
by Germany, Belgium and Japan. China, which ranked
number 15 last year, is expected to move to the Top
Ten slot for the first time.
Last year too, the exports had been
aided by increase in sales in these two categories
and that boom continues.
Source: http://afp.google.com
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