A champagne company co-founded by a Fife man is celebrating its first export deal to the United States.
Peter Crawford, from Balmerino, launched Sip Champagnes two years ago with business partner Daniel Blatchford.
Now the business is shipping its products to California, Florida, Illinois and Montana.
And talks are already ongoing to expand its range of champagnes to other parts of the US.
How Sip Champagnes was born
Peter, who was born in Dundee, is one of the world’s leading authorities on champagne with more than 20 years’ experience.
Peter’s interest in champagne started while he was a St Andrews University student working part time in Oddbins and put in charge of the champagne section.
Travelling to the Champagne region of France several times a year, he has a personal collection of thousands of bottles.
Sip Champagnes was formed after he helped source and supply artisan champagne for his friend Daniel’s wedding.
Peter said: “It was always part of our plan to export to the United States. Grower Champagne is under represented worldwide and our ambition was to create a model that would be global.”
Sales of champagne in the US soared by 19.4% to $998m in 2022.
Peter added: “The US is a huge market with a great wine trade established. There is a growing appetite for the most interesting, artisan products.
“The US market demands well-made, sustainably minded champagnes.
“The American consumer cares about how the grapes are farmed, how the land is treated, who makes the wine and what their story is.”
Experience key to Fife firm’s export deal
The Fife businessman said the export deal did not come without challenges.
He said partnering with Cage Imports was an important move, with a number of added difficulties around exporting following Brexit.
“Brexit has complicated things for exporters in general,” Peter added.
“We had to create a French subsidiary. It was too difficult and costly to go via the UK, although this came with its own set of challenges.
“Across the channel, there are a new set of difficulties, namely state-by-state alcohol licensing laws.
“We’ve chosen to partner with an established champagne professional who shares our ethos but, crucially, has experience navigating the import and distribution network.
“This will make it far quicker and simpler to get our champagne to market.”
Last year, Sip Champagnes was voted the UK’s champagne and sparkling retailer of the year
Cage Imports founder Garth Hodgdon said: “Our goal is to bring what is current in champagne to consumers in the United States.
“Our partnership with Sip allows us to access their deep knowledge of the region and the relationships they have with producers to continue to import new and exciting champagne.
“Sip and Cage have the ability to share the champagne growers with the consumers who are passionate about what they are creating.”
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