‘Sluggish’ French market prompts MBWS sales dive
French group Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits (MBWS) saw its revenue fall by 8.5% in the first half of 2025, led by a ‘sharp decline’ in its home market.
The company posted revenue of €86.6m (US$101.5m) in the first half of 2025 (H1), which was down by 8.5% from the same period in the previous year.
In France in particular, its sales saw a ‘significant decline’ in H1 of 17.4%, due to what the company said were ‘difficult commercial negotiations with the off-trade at the beginning of the year in a spirits market that continues to decline’.
The firm’s second-quarter (Q2) sales, meanwhile, were down by double digits (13.7%) from €51.6m (US$60.5m) to €44.4m (US$52.1m).
In its home market France, the company attributed the dive in sales in Q2 to the delisting of its Scotch whisky brand William Peel in the off-trade. The impact of the delisting was said to bring down the group’s revenue for H1 by an estimated 6.3%.
In spite of issues with William Peel in its home market, Sobieski vodka was said to be performing ‘relatively well’ in the face of aggressive vodka pricing by other companies, and its namesake liqueur, Marie Brizard, was ‘bolstered’ by product innovations.
The group posted 12.6% growth for all brands across its portfolio in the on-trade for H1, but this was ‘far from sufficient’ to offset the sharp decline in the off-trade.
US heightens international decline
Away from France, the brand’s international sales saw a drop of 1.3% in H1 2025, and 5% in Q2 in comparison with 2024’s figures.
The company listed declines in Italy, Germany, the French overseas departments and territories, and Africa, but ‘strong’ performances in Belgium, the UK and Morocco.
These ‘strong performances’ weren’t enough to counter the overall drop in revenue, though, MBWS said.
Elsewhere, Poland was singled out for its 43.7% uptick in sales for Q2. Spain saw a 5.6% rise, but Denmark swung the other way with a 24% fall. Denmark’s plummet was put down to the ‘termination of an agency brand contract that could not be replaced in the short term and the discontinuation of sales to some ship chandlers’.
In the US, revenue was down by 54.7% in H1 2025 and 57.5% in Q2.
This was attributed to ‘regulatory instability’ caused by increased customs tariffs. The company’s US importer ordered large-scale supplies in 2024, but changes to certain local distributors resulted in a high comparison base.
MBWS added that its US importer significantly reduced inventory, particularly for Sobieski vodka, which was the main reason for decline. It said the brand’s sales momentum was in line with how the vodka market is performing overall.
Transition year
Addressing the future, the group said in its outlook: “Against a gloomy international backdrop, the negative trend in revenue performance in the second quarter reflects persistent tensions in the worldwide wine and spirits market: unfavourable effects of tense trade negotiations in early 2025 and continued inventory reductions by our distributors in several markets, particularly in the United States.
“In this transition year, the measures taken to mitigate these impacts and best preserve the financial performance of our activities in France and on international markets have now entered the operational phase.”
The group added that was making every effort to reduce the impact of commercial tensions from past months and that its objective was to “achieve a recovery in business activity that is beneficial to all stakeholders and is based on fair and acceptable trade terms”.
It noted, however, that profitably will be hampered by possible increases in customs duties in the second half of 2025 and their impact on international trade.
The company’s spirits portfolio also includes Cognac Gautier and Tequila San Jose.
The company’s first quarter (Q1) of 2025 was described as ‘complicated’ due to tariff uncertainty in the US.
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