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Henkell Freixenet, the sparkling wine, wine and spirits division of Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen KG, achieved economic growth of 4.1% in net income last year, compared to 2022. And all this in the midst of an increasingly challenging and competitive market.
These results are due, according to the firm, to a good understanding of consumer needs, anticipating trends in global markets, as well as an approach based on strategic brands. In this way, the company consolidates its position as the world leader in the sparkling wine market, according to the IWSR market research institute.
By category, sparkling wines grew by 6%, while spirits grew by 11% and wines declined by 8%. Throughout 2023, Henkell Freixenet has focused on the global expansion of its strategic brands. Freixenet (+4%), Mionetto increased its share of total sales by 11%, helping to improve the company’s performance. Other relevant brands of the group also recorded sales slightly above the previous year, such as Champagne Alfred Gratien (+16%) and Crémant Gratien & Meyer (+13%).
On the other hand, Henkell Freixenet continues to outsource and expand its participation in many world markets, including Germany, Poland, Canada, the United States and Brazil.
Despite the turnover Pedro Ferrer, the co-CEO and vice president of Freixenet Group, also showed his concern about the uncertainty caused by the shortage of grapes resulting from the drought that has been affecting the fields since 2021, with special affectation in 2023 in the area of El Penedès, he expressed during the conference.
To that speech he added that ‘seeing that the world demand for cava is booming and that we cannot produce enough bottles to satisfy it adequately in the short term, the situation is really complicated at all levels; that is why we work together with the sector to guarantee the sustainability of the ecosystem that cava represents and its fundamental importance in the territory’.