FRANCE: French wine consumption has fallen by half, winegrowers suffer and the government propose new projects and European Union offers dramatic solutions to farmers

The , rip up their vineyards for good and they will receive a one off payment between 5,000 and 11,000 U.S. dollars per hectare taken out of circulation. France literally has too many vineyards chasing too few consumers. Around 30 percent of the growers may have to go out of business for good. French winegrowers face two problems, at home French wine consumption has fallen by half. And abroad consumers are switching to "new world" wines from south America and Australia which are often better and cheaper. The farmers and winegrowers are not happy with the situation or the solutions proposed to them by the european Union. Winegrower, Gerard Folch described how risky it became to depend on vineyards as a sole source of income. "To live only from Wine became very difficult and very risky. We have a risk of hail, frost and a small harvest. That's too risky!", he said. Another winegrower also expressed his despair. "It's appalling, I have ripped out my vines with no long term plans for this land, I feel I have killed something, destroyed a way of life," said Henri Latorre. The French government is pumping millions of dollars into the industry and trying to find out some possible solutions for the hard situation of the wine market, that's why research projects took place to propose new ideas such as making new wine products like the wine with less alcohol or wine alcohol free. "Grape is a fruit. Tradition has proved that with grapes we can make wine. There's a range of wines in more and more countries abroad, so, our research projects show that with grapes we can enlarge the production ranges. We can make wine, better wine, wine with less alcohol but above all, we can produce other drinks made from grapes but it's not in the habits. So, we propose additional economic development using the grapes as a natural agricultural raw material", said government researcher Jean-louis Escudier. The government hopes the new grape juice named "Toto Vino" , will restore some fizz and open some space to new ideas for coming through and help the situation. The challenge now for that product will be of course is to go head to head with rival sodas in the Markets.

ITN Source | October 14, 2006

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