Prosecco overtakes champagne in French supermarkets for the first time

Raise a glass, but maybe not the usual one. For the first time, prosecco has outsold champagne in French supermarkets and hypermarkets.

It's a symbolic blow for France's most famous drink, and the Italian challenger isn't even the pricey option.

What happened? 🍾

According to figures from the research firm Circana, French shoppers bought 25.31 million bottles of prosecco in the 12 months to the end of July 2026. Champagne reached 25.23 million bottles.

The gap is only about 80,000 bottles. Still, prosecco is now the number one sparkling wine in big retail chains (discount stores excluded).

The trend is also showing up in bars and restaurants. FranceAgriMer, the state agency for farm and sea products, reported that in 2025 restaurant and bar purchases of champagne fell 5.5% in volume, while prosecco jumped 22.6%. Since 2019, prosecco is up 175%.

Why is everyone talking about it?

Mostly because of price. Since 2019, the average price of champagne has risen 17%, to 21.16 euros per 75 cl bottle equivalent. Prosecco rose 5%, to 5.30 euros. That makes it roughly four times cheaper.

With worries about purchasing power, the French are going out a bit less and watching what they spend when they do. Restaurateurs and customers alike are choosing cheaper bottles.

Fizz itself is doing fine. Sparkling wine purchases by bars and restaurants rose 6.3% in 2025, while still wine fell 4.9%. Cocktails like the Spritz help prosecco too.

Champagne still makes up 21% of sparkling wine volumes bought in that sector. Its exports are also slipping: 152 million bottles left France in 2025, 1.2 million fewer than the year before.

What's next?

It's not just about bubbles. Italian food and wine exports hit a record 70.9 billion euros in 2025, up 5%. In French supermarkets, pesto, bronze-cut pasta and mozzarella are growing too.

Prosecco already makes up 50% of Italian wine sold in France, and Italy hopes it will pull other labels along. At the Wine Paris trade fair in February, 200 Italian companies took part under the Italian Trade Agency banner, 60% more than a year earlier.

This follows earlier signs: champagne shipments slumped in 2024, and FranceAgriMer's August figures already showed prosecco surging in French bars.