Hennessy & Remy Martin Expansion Plans

With a burgeoning desire for cognac, two of the largest players in the market are putting plans into place to ensure they can keep up with the ever increasing global demand.  Hennessy has acquired a plot on the outskirts of Cognac where it will build an additional bottling plant aiming to increase production from 60 to 120 million bottles by 2030.  Not to be outdone, Remy Martin are investing a further 30 million € into its production site at Merpins with the aim of increasing their manufacturing capacity by 30% over the next 5 years.  These expansions must send alarm bells ringing as the increase in capacity will diminish cognac stocks more rapidly, increasing price and forcing the big houses to blend younger and younger eaux de vie.    As a consequence, age-statemented, single estate cognacs, such as Hermitage, will become more sought after than ever.