La Vieille Ferme’s Andrew Bayley on how the ‘chicken wine’ learned to fly

Why did the shopper cross the road? Not because the chicken wine was on offer, if Andrew Bayley has anything to say about it. In a category dominated by promotions, La Vieille Ferme’s commitment to affordable base pricing has helped make its wines an “everyday indulgence” enjoyed by millions, the UK & Ireland MD at French vintner Famille Perrin believes.

“La Vieille Ferme has always had a small bridge in terms of on and off promotional pricing,” he says of the brand, which went viral after being dubbed ‘the chicken wine’ on TikTok in 2024. “That’s essential, because it drives high base sales. People may or may not cross the road if they know it’s on promotion, but they’ll always think: ‘I’m here, so I may as well buy it’.”

Regardless of whether affordability is indeed the bedrock of La Vieille Ferme’s success, there’s little doubting Bayley’s assertion its wines are being bought en masse. Off-trade sales climbed by £28.9m and £63.3m in 2024 and 2025 respectively, hitting £190.3m in the year to 21 March 2026, NIQ data shows. Set against a still wine category that shed £57.4m last year [NIQ 52 w/e 6 September 2025], the gains are nothing short of remarkable.

Momentum has been turbocharged by La Vieille Ferme Rosé, launched in 2014 after Famille Perrin identified an opportunity to add an affordable Provence-style rosé to a category dominated by sweeter, Californian wines. Following its viral moment – sparked by the poultry illustrations on its label, but also its quality vs price credentials and relative lack of pomp – it’s now the bestselling rosé by value and volume in the UK.

“I’m quite old – I’m not on TikTok or Instagram, so it took my kids to show me these things were happening,” says Bayley of La Vieille Ferme’s newfound fame. “It was entirely organically driven. We didn’t have any paid influencers or anything.”

But while the social media frenzy around La Vieille Ferme has clearly played a significant part in sales advances in the past two years, shipments have been on an upwards trajectory since Bayley was hired to set up a dedicated UK&I operation for Famille Perrin in 2016.

“The biggest drive for La Vieille Ferme has been distribution,” he says. “The base was there. The brand was in Majestic, it was in Waitrose. But I focused on expanding that, first into Morrisons and then other retailers.

“Another core reason behind our success is our service. By being our own masters, we have much more influence over what happens in France. If you can supply and keep wine in stock without any problem then you’ve half a chance of selling it.”

The dual foundations of distribution and availability enabled La Vieille Ferme to capitalise on skyrocketing demand, Bayley believes. “We have a huge warehouse full of stock to deliver on what we’ve established. It’s crucial for us to be able to keep product on shelf, especially as staffing in the off-trade is reduced and there are fewer people to fill shelves up.”

For a brand created by one of France’s most celebrated wine-producing families, La Vieille Ferme also has a playful nature that sets it apart from stuffier peers. In a cute nod to its adopted moniker, the brand rolled out limited-edition labels emblazoned with the words ‘the chicken wine’ in autumn 2024.

The idea, concocted by Bayley and sales director James Heller after “one too many gin and tonics”, was given a cautious blessing by Famille Perrin, Bayley reveals: “The family questioned it at first, but decided it was a good idea.” A 100,000-bottle run sold out in record time, with shoppers and critics alike delighted to discover they weren’t alone in using the name.

“The ownership of the brand is not with us, it’s with the consumers,” Bayley explains. “Our consumers were the ones who called us the chicken wine. They were the ones who adopted it and gave it that moniker, and we shouldn’t try and educate or correct them. We know La Vieille Ferme is hard to say, and that’s why it’s called the chicken wine.

“As soon as you’ve got a product that consumers have adopted and are calling by a nickname, they’re emotively engaged, and that’s crucial.”

Boosting French wine’s profile

The brand’s success has inevitably drawn imitation, with Aldi launching a ‘Le Petit Poulet’ dupe in 2024, undercutting La Vieille Ferme by around £2 a bottle. “Imitation is the ultimate flattery,” says Bayley. “We’re happy people are trying to replicate what we do, because it encourages consumption of French rosé so it’s good for the category.

“Consumers will make their own decisions on quality. We know our quality is outstanding, and that’s what brings people back to buy the second or third bottle.”

He rejects the suggestion copycats will dull the impact of La Vieille Ferme’s branding on shelf. “If you look at the label, we have so much capacity to be playful. We’ve got so many graphic elements and assets that we can adopt and promote.”

Indeed, La Vieille Ferme’s new sparkling wine cans – set to land this summer – will feature a large chicken silhouette front and centre, in place of its regular hand-drawn illustrations. “We have the vision the chicken could become the Apple of the wine world,” Bayley says. “There could come a moment when we may not even need the brand.”

The hope is that such future growth will be aided by the next phase of the brand’s multichannel ‘We Are Famille’ campaign, a focus on emerging formats such as cans and bag-in-box, and a push into the on-trade. Despite requests from supermarkets and shoppers alike, La Vieille Ferme has no immediate plans to enter categories like low & no or mid-strength in the UK. Nor does it plan to introduce single-varietal wines.

“We see ourselves more as adopters than innovators,” Bayley says. “Part of the success [of La Vieille Ferme] is the simplicity of that choice of red, white, rosé. People have asked about the possibility of a reserve or varietal-led wines, but that just doesn’t fit the brand.

“La Vieille Ferme is about everyday enjoyment – consumers don’t need to know the terroir. They’re happy to grab something they enjoy.”

It’s a simple formula, but one that’s delivered astonishing results.