Cava production decimated by drought in Catalonia
If you’re 80 million bottles of cava down after a harvest, you know things are bad - Freixenet producer is preparing for worse to come by telling unions that workers might have to lose work unless rainfall dramatically picks up in the region.
The lack of water in Spain's Catalonia region is having real implications for the local wine industry and major player Freixenet has signalled it will have to potentially place its workers on short-time.
Grupo Freixenet, which is based in Barcelona and is owned by the German group Henkell and the Ferrer family, is famous for its cava brand.
It expects the continuing drought to cut production capacity by 30%, forcing it to present a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE) for more than 600 workers.
The ERTE was legally justified due to "force majeure,” meaning it has had to take the exceptional action.
Last year's rainfall plummeted by half in the area and 80 million bottles were lost.
The proposal has been sent to the Catalan Generalitat and will be passed onto the workers' unions.
The group said in a statement: "The measure, implemented as an exercise of responsibility, aims to guarantee the operation of the business and preserve employability to be able to face external causes and force majeure caused by the serious drought.
"Seeing that global demand for cava is booming and that we cannot produce enough bottles to adequately satisfy it in the short term, the situation is really complicated at all levels.”
The group has 778 workers, with 615 affected by the order. Much will now depend on how much it rains over the coming months.
Despite the water worries, the group posted an increase in turnover for 2023 of 4%.
