France will spend $216 million to destroy surplus wine

[jswordy]

The French government will spend $216 million to destroy a surplus of wine in an effort to support struggling wine producers.

The country has seen a fall in demand for wine due to inflation and a change in consumption patterns.

The excess wine will be sold to distillers who will destroy it and turn it into industrial alcohol that can be used in other products like hand sanitizer, cleaning products and perfume.


https://www.ksat.com/news/world/202...surplus-wine-and-turn-it-into-hand-sanitizer/

 

[ratflinger]

I can believe that, I've seen French wine (drinkable) go for $2 in German grocery stores.

 

[winechef]

it's sad that 30 years a good bottle would cost less than 20 dollars and now it's the same or cheaper. but costs of fruit and equipment bare higher. industry is tough

 

[ibglowin]

Happening here in the US as well as AUS, and Chile.

https://wineeconomist.com/2023/09/05/labor-day/

 

[joeswine]

younger people are drinking more craft beers these days.

 

[winemanden]

it's sad that 30 years a good bottle would cost less than 20 dollars and now it's the same or cheaper. but costs of fruit and equipment bare higher. industry is tough

I think you can point the finger at the Supermarkets for that. They are the biggest buyers for wine, at least in the UK. They insist on the lowest prices possible from producers, which they usually get because they order in bulk. Farmers, egg producers, milk producers and wineries all complain.

 

[winemanden]

it's sad that 30 years a good bottle would cost less than 20 dollars and now it's the same or cheaper. but costs of fruit and equipment bare higher. industry is tough

Everything is done for cheapness these days. We all like a bargain, but it ends up in lower wages. I'm no economist, but I think Henry Ford had the right idea. I'm not sure whether this is true. He said, "If I pay my workers enough money, they will be able to buy my cars!" Admittedly, they had to work like hell for their money. Back in the sixties, I worked piecework in the Morris car factory making Morris minors and Minis.
A dozen of us used to travel to work in a minibus. It was good money, but very often I was asleep before we got out of the work's car park. They say that hard work never killed anyone. A lot of my old workmates from those days are gone, but I'm still here.

 

[jswordy]

Everything is done for cheapness these days. We all like a bargain, but it ends up in lower wages. I'm no economist, but I think Henry Ford had the right idea. I'm not sure whether this is true. He said, "If I pay my workers enough money, they will be able to buy my cars!" Admittedly, they had to work like hell for their money. Back in the sixties, I worked piecework in the Morris car factory making Morris minors and Minis.
A dozen of us used to travel to work in a minibus. It was good money, but very often I was asleep before we got out of the work's car park. They say that hard work never killed anyone. A lot of my old workmates from those days are gone, but I'm still here.

Agree! I always like looking at these old pix of the International Harvester Farmall Plant where my Dad worked awhile. IH workers made $5.02-7.92 in 1975 ($28.89 to $45 in today's money), which is how they afforded the cars. The average manufacturing wage in the USA today is $15.94 an hour ($2.93 in 1975 wages).