25.11.2011 - Vinexpo news selection
Armagnac, which already sells in more than 100 countries, has set out to conquer the Chinese market, which in 2012 will become the largest foreign buyer of this brandy produced in the south-west of France.
Armagnac has been distilled for more than 700 years. 3.5 million bottles of it were produced in 2008 to supply destinations on all continents, now markets such as Brazil, Belarus and Zambia have been recently penetrated.
UK, the original export partner for Armagnac, remains an important market, but in 2008 and 2010 the largest importer was Russia and at the beginning of 2012, it could be China according to Pierre Tabarin the President of the National Armagnac Board (BNIA).
He told Agence France Presse that in 2010, 25,000 bottles of Armagnac were sold in China. In 2011, this figure could reach 250,000, which is about the volume currently sent to Russia. “But in terms of sales turnover, China would be ahead,” added Pierre Tabarin, “because the Armagnacs they import are older”.
After China, the largest importers should perhaps be Hong Kong, Russia, UK and the US. (AFP – 5 November 2011)