Hennessy staff in France strike over plan to bottle cognac in China amid EU tariff row
Strike involved about 500 workers at a bottling plant in Cognac in southwest France
Hennessy is studying a plan to bottle cognac in China, the company owned by French luxury giant LVMH said on Tuesday, prompting hundreds of workers at its plant in southwestern France to go on strike.
Hennessy said it is looking at all options to cope with anti-dumping measures imposed by Beijing last month, including shipping cognac to China where it could be bottled locally. A decision would only be taken based on the results of a trial.
China is the second-largest export market for cognac after the United States and the industry’s most profitable territory, accounting for US$1.7 billion in exports last year.
Difficult economic conditions in China and the US, however, have prompted a sharp decline in cognac sales and the industry is also suffering from a bad 2024 harvest.
News of Hennessy’s plan prompted about 500 workers, or half the workforce, at its bottling plant in Cognac, to stop work on Tuesday, said Michael Lablanche, a regional representative for the CGT labour union.
Workers are due to continue their strike on Wednesday, Lablanche added.