Stock Market Cafe
  • Home
  • Trading News
  • Email Whitelisting
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Trading News
  • Email Whitelisting
  • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Stock Market Cafe
No Result
View All Result
Home Trading News

Wine fanatics beware: Supply chain problems put the squeeze on this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau haul

by
November 18, 2021
in Trading News
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RELATED POSTS

If You’ve Got Time, These Three Dividend Aristocrats Should Pay Off

Here’s how much money it takes to be considered wealthy in 12 major U.S. cities

Bottles of the 2016 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau wine are displayed at a countdown event in Tokyo on November 17, 2016.

Yoshikazu Tsuno | Gamma-Rapho | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – Every year on the third Thursday of November, at exactly 12:01 a.m., the French release their celebrated first wine of the harvest — the crisp and fruity Beaujolais Nouveau.

This year, American oenophiles woke up to a Beaujolais Nouveau market hampered by supply chain problems that have become all-too-common in today’s economy, particularly driver shortages and other shipping issues.

And all of that translates into cost increases for suppliers and consumers alike.

“There are definitely issues with the supply chain. There’s always a problem with containers and there’s always a problem with space on ships, but it’s been really difficult this year,” said Dennis Kreps, co-founder of importer Quintessential Wines, which is based in California’s Napa Valley.

The market was already at a disadvantage due to climate problems. Beaujolais Nouveau production was down nearly 50% this year because of spring frost and hail, followed by a drought.

“It’s kind of a phenomenon that’s happening worldwide right now,” Kreps said. “I know some of the numbers in France specifically are down dramatically across all regions. Beaujolais was one of the hardest hit.”

Kreps, the exclusive U.S. importer of prominent wine merchant Georges Duboeuf, coordinates with a small team on the colossal logistics of distributing the wine to American retailers on the precise French schedule.

In Beaujolais, considered a subregion of Burgundy, vineyards carpet approximately 42,000 acres of low granite hills north of Lyon in eastern France.

Here is where thin-skinned magenta gamay grapes are queen and Georges Duboeuf is king.

Duboeuf, affectionately called “Papa of Beaujolais,” has the gamay grapes hand-harvested in September. Then follows a quick fermentation and bottling in October.

A picker cuts grapes at a vineyard in Beaujolais, eastern France, on early September 3, 2018, during this year’s first Beaujolais’ harvest.

Philippe Desmazes | AFP | Getty Images

The Beaujolais Nouveau wine – typically light in body with a juicy fruit-forward palate – is then shipped around the world and staged for its November debut.

First, Beaujolais suppliers needed to secure containers to begin shipping. Then they were concerned about delays at the ports.

“You can’t control the backlog at the ports,” Kreps said.

One ship was rerouted from New York to Norfolk, Virginia, due to a major backup, he said. The ship destined for New York typically carries the majority of the wine meant to be distributed across the country, Kreps added.

“We then had to reroute all of the drivers and the trucks from New York down to Norfolk and then get the containers off the ship and get those guys rolling to the West Coast immediately,” Kreps said.

They also had problems hiring qualified drivers due to a labor shortage, he said.

“We’ve never had an issue before, but one truck had a flip over so everything on that container was lost,” he said. “So, unfortunately, all the wine for Arkansas was lost, most of the wine for Memphis was lost, and I think a large portion of the wine for West Virginia was lost.”

Beaujolais grapes lie in a basket in the “Moulin a Vent” vineyard, near Chenas, Beaujolais, eastern France on August 26, 2015, after this year’s first Beaujolais’ harvest.

Jean-Philippe Ksiazek | AFP | Getty Images

Yet even with all the supply and production problems – freight costs have tripled and the cost of the fruit itself was significantly higher, as well – a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau will sell this year for only a slightly higher retail price than usual, Kreps said.

“We had already committed to pricing to all of our wholesalers, the wholesalers call the retailers, the retailers had then committed quantities,” he said. “Now’s not the time to go back to them with a cost increase. So we worked with the winery and ate the cost.”

Kreps did have a positive message for the people who are able to get their hands on a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau: Despite all the difficulties with the supply chain and the small harvest, he said, “the quality is fantastic.”

ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

If You’ve Got Time, These Three Dividend Aristocrats Should Pay Off

by
July 3, 2022
0

If you're an investor with long time horizon, then you should meet these three high-growth Dividend Aristocrats. Dividend Aristocrats, as...

Here’s how much money it takes to be considered wealthy in 12 major U.S. cities

by
July 3, 2022
0

Depending on where you live, a net worth totaling millions of dollars may still be considered merely "comfortable," a new...

Economy passengers could soon lie down on airplanes–meet the airline that’s doing it first

by
July 3, 2022
0

Economy flights practically guarantee a stiff neck, a child kicking the back of your seat and competition with your seatmate...

More than 12,000 flights delayed, hundreds canceled during busy July Fourth weekend

by
July 3, 2022
0

Travelers at LaGuardia Airport in New York on June 30, 2022. Leslie Josephs | CNBC Airlines have canceled more than...

How to Minimize Your Heirs’ Tax Burden on Inherited IRAs and 401(k)s

by
July 3, 2022
0

The stretch-IRA strategy largely went away after the Secure Act of 2019, leaving heirs less maneuverability on taxes. Financial pros...

Next Post

Record selling by insiders is setting up stocks for a big fall, says contrarian investor

Barclays initiates coverage of Tilray, Cronos and Canopy Growth

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

email

Get the daily email about stock.

Please Enter Your Email Address:

By opting in you agree to our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

MOST VIEWED

  • Crocs sees fourth-quarter sales up 42%, CEO Andrew Rees says 2021 was ‘exceptional year’

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Buying a car from the factory sounds expensive, but it can actually save you money. Here’s how to do it.

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Roth TSP vs. Roth IRA: How Do They Compare?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The states that won’t tax military retirement in 2022

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Allbirds stock has plunged 50% in two months, now one top analyst says buy it

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Home
  • Trading News
  • Email Whitelisting
  • Privacy Policy
All rights reserved by www.stockmarket-cafe.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Trading News
  • Email Whitelisting
  • Privacy Policy

All rights reserved by www.stockmarket-cafe.com