By: Stuart Todd – Champagne’s trade body, CIVC, is upbeat on the sector’s prospects for 2011 based on improving volume sales and higher pricing.

Global Champagne sales by volume rose by 12.4% for the 10 months to the end of October, according to CIVC.

“The key question now is whether this is largely a restocking phenomenon or a response to a real increase in consumption. We will only be able to make a judgement on that when the crucial months of November and December are past us,” said CIVC spokesperson Daniel Lorson.

He told just-drinks that global shipments for 2010 would likely hit 315m bottles, up from 293m last year but still below 322m in 2008.

“Overall, we are optimistic for 2011,” said Lorson. “We’ve noted a modest average increase in prices in the second half, driven by significant increases in prices for premium Champagne.

“We are also seeing some strong upward movement in prices in the bottom of the range category, compared to 2009, with fewer examples of Champagne at less than EUR10 (US$13) a bottle,” he added.