Chapel Down will pursue a major expansion into new internation markets as it looks to hunt down its target of winning 1% of the global champagne market by 2035.
The plan is part of a new strategy devised for the English winemaker by its new CEO and CFO, who both joined earlier this year.
The announcement came alongside the company’s half-year results, which showed revenue grew 11% to £7.9m in the six months to 30 June.
This was mostly driven by growth in the supermarkets after the rollout of new wines into Tesco and Waitrose, helping total off-trade sales to rise 30% to £3.8m.
Its international sales grew 17% to £500k after initial orders were received through new distribution agreements with Jackson Family Wines in the US and Anora in Norway.
The new strategy will see the winemaker target the top countries for champagne consumption. It is currently only sold in five out of the top 10 markets. It will also work with four major global travel retail partners to help it roll out into airport duty-free stores.
Taking 1% of global champagne sales by 2035 is ambitious though, given the market was valued at about $7.7bn in 2024. This means that even without further market growth, Chapel Down would need to hit $77m in sales – almost a tenfold increase within 10 years.
Chapel Down announced this week it had opted to cancel its plans to build another winery near Canterbury after several delays to planning permission.
Instead, it will improve its original Tenterden winery and continue using its existing third-party facility for some of its premium still wines.
“With over 1,000 acres of vineyards already planted in some of Kent’s finest terroir, Chapel Down has laid the foundations for sustained profitable growth in the medium-term,” said CEO James Pennefather.
“I am therefore delighted at the progress this year that Chapel Down has made against this goal, ensuring that we have the winemaking capacity, strong brand and routes to market in place to deliver this.”
The company’s net debt almost doubled to £11.3m in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2024. This was due to recent vineyard plantings at two of its sites, bottling of the 2023 and 2024 harvests, and cultivation costs ahead of this year’s harvest.
Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation fell 23% to £1.2m due to the fair value adjustment of its biological produce down to £0.2m from £0.8m this time last year.
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