The dark side of the champagne industry | DW Documentary

Champagne: a symbol of glamor and celebration. Tens of thousands of migrant workers head to France every year to harvest grapes in the Champagne region. But some pay a high price to bring this luxury product to market.

While the big champagne brands enjoy record sales, a number of seasonal workers toil in slavery-like conditions, living in shacks or tents in the local forests, and paid a pittance.
Trade unionist José Blanco has been speaking out against the exploitation of migrant harvest workers for years, accusing recruitment agencies of unscrupulous practices. Several subcontractors have already been sentenced to prison for human trafficking and exposing workers to inhumane conditions, but the problem persists. Cheap workers from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa continue to be exploited. Our documentary features Polish harvest workers who report relying on painkillers to get by; a young Bulgarian who says he was cheated out of his wages and an Afghan who talks about his life working in the fields under appalling conditions.
Lawyer Benjamin Chauveaux has represented several victims in the largest human trafficking trial in Champagne to date. He has gained an insight into a complex system of subcontractors, which has sometimes allowed the major champagne producers to profit from slave-like labor. He says the role played by the major brands in this system has yet to be fully investigated.

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The heart of Champagne you can see there’s money here. Major champagne brands are enjoying record sales, but the people at the other end of the value chain face a very different fate. I worked for four days, then he left without paying. Exploitation, human trafficking, slave-like labor.

When I think how it used to be and where we are today all because of profits, it makes me sad. In Champagne affluence is juxtaposed with abject poverty. When you see this, you must stop it. The town of Épernay in north-eastern France. The center of the world-famous champagne industry.

Is this Avenue de Champagne? It is. Most of the big brands are here. Robert Schmidt, Stéphanie Wenger and Ishaq Anis belong to an international collective of journalists. They’re in Champagne for the harvest season to investigate what’s behind the industry’s glamourous fa-çade. Fancy buildings. It’s clearly affluent.

Many of the major champagne brands are backed by large corporations, luxury conglomerates and investors. Business is booming: in 2022, the industry saw record turnover of more than 6 billion euros. To maintain these profits, some 100,000 seasonal workers are needed for the grape harvest every year. Look at the crates.

That’s where they put the grapes? Yes. Supported by Journalismfund Europe, the reporters are researching a story they hope to publish in German and French media investigating whether there’s illegal exploitation and human trafficking in the champagne industry. The work they do is very strenuous and allegedly some people aren’t adequately paid.

There have been cases of people housed in terrible conditions. Of course this isn’t the norm. But it does happen. We want to see exactly what is going on. Lots of people who come here from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia don’t know their rights. And sometimes they don’t dare defend themselves against abuses.

I am a refugee I know, I feel their situation. They do not have a stable income. That’s why they are ready to do any kind of job. I can say it’s personal also, it’s professional also. Because I am a photographer a journalist, I would like to tell their story.

The reporters have no idea that this harvest season will mark a mile-stone with hundreds of new cases of exploitation and human trafficking coming to light. To begin, they want to find out more about the actual grape harvest. On the Bénard family’s champagne estate the workday begins before dawn.

When Michelle Bénard married a winemaker 30 years ago, she helped out in the kitchen during harvest season. These days, it’s a thriving family business and she’s in charge of the grape-picking teams. The harvest is hard work. The press has to be fed. Grapes have to be picked.

No one is here to sit around. They want to harvest, harvest, harvest. The Polish workers are already waiting outside. They’re directly employed by the family and live here on the grounds. There are nine of them here. There are fourteen others in another building. Everyone prepares their lunch here to take to the vineyards.

This year the harvest starts in early September when temperatures can still reach over 40 degrees Celsius. As the sun rises, the work begins. Each of the harvest workers will pick several hundred kilos of grapes today. While Michelle makes sure there aren’t too many leaves in the crates,

The reporters ask the workers how they cope with the heat. We finished work earlier because the sun was burning our skin. And what about your back? For the last hours of work it hurts. But some of us take medicine or have a different way for our backpain. Daria is a student.

This is her second harvest season with the Bénard family. Others have been doing it for more than ten years and take time off from their actual jobs to come. That much money for Poland it’s too much. You can’t earn that much money in Poland in ten days.

On a good slope, Daria can earn more than 150 euros a day. The prospect of a decent wage like this is attractive. Many winegrowers now outsource the harvesting to service providers that recruit and manage teams of foreign workers. Michelle Bénard prefers to do it all herself

Even though it’s sometimes hard to communicate with the workers. The service providers are useful. For instance, I don’t speak any Polish and the workers don’t speak French. Some speak English, but otherwise we communicate with gestures. Still, I prefer to have my own teams. If you work with a service provider,

You need to ask how the people are being accommodated and where and under what conditions. The winemaker has seen outsourcing grow over the years as major brands want to maximize profits. But she still stays true to her way. I’m happy. They’re beautiful grapes! My son can work well with these.

Nearby, her son Charles is awaiting the harvest. He studied viticulture before taking over the estate. This is his third harvest season. This is where I take over. As soon as the grapes arrive, we start the press. And then we make wine. It takes 4 tons for one load.

The young winemaker has plans to improve the vineyard. As according to the law regulating champagne production, the grapes have to be hand-picked to avoid any damage. We want to plant ivy and fruit trees. You can’t only think in terms of profits.

With the heat right now, when the harvest workers want to take a break, there’s no shade. So it’s a project that’s close to my heart. But not everyone has such a wholesome approach. The main producers have financial goals to meet and around two thirds of the harvests go to the big brands.

Industry leader LVMH produces more than 70 million bottles a year. Charles Bénard’s goals are more modest. He’s happy with the 70,000 bottles they’re hoping to produce. We went out into the cold to prune the vines, got on the tractor to tend to them.

It took time and energy and in the end we got something great. We won’t be drinking this wine for another four or five years, you need to bear that in mind too. The first Bénard champagne overseen from start to finish by Charles will be ready later in 2024.

But there’s already a reason to celebrate. We’ve started the last press, so now we can take a deep breath with a toast to end the day ! Another day done. Fourteen thousand kilos picked, 1.3 hectares processed, everything went well. So here’s to you! Here’s to you all!

Many winegrowers and brands stick to the rules. But there are also some black sheep in the industry. Back in Épernay. We’ve heard that people arrive at the station looking for work in the harvest. They sleep in a park outside, and wait for subcontractors to come along and offer them work.

Hardly anyone here wants to speak out against the subcontractors. Finally, someone agrees to talk to us What are you waiting for? I’m looking for work. Are you expecting subcontractors? Yes… Have you been offered work? Yes, but for 50 or 60 euros a day. I won’t do that. It’s not enough.

Youssef lives in Lille. He’s here because he needs the money. Have you ever had problems? Yes, two or three times. People came along; I went with one of them, worked for four days and then he left without paying. That’s how it goes. That’s how it works here.

Youssef is holding out for a decent offer. Until then he’ll sleep here in the park. Back in the vineyards. A team from the powerful French trade union CGT has come to show solidarity with the workers. CGT General Secretary Sabine Dumenil is a trained nurse. Now she’s fighting for the rights of seasonal workers.

There’s a code of silence. We don’t know how many people are affected. Maybe it’s only a few cases, but even one case is one too many. Our job is to make sure that nobody is employed here under slavery-like conditions. During the harvest season, the CGT team is in the vineyards every day,

Speaking with the grape pickers. We’re here to talk to the harvest workers. The trouble is they won’t talk. They won’t say anything. They’re afraid of losing their jobs. No one talks in the vineyards. There’s also a language barrier. Where do you sleep? Under a tarpaulin? English? The language barrier is a big problem.

Still, we give them the leaflets so they can read them perhaps with the help of someone French who can explain to them why we’re here. If they do have problems, they only come to us after the grape harvest, when they need more information. This group of Bulgarians also works for a service provider.

The fields belong to a large producer. The boss? In Èpernay! Épernay? If there are problems, here’s our phone number. Give us a call. We’ll answer all your questions. Problem ok… Just call. Here’s our number. We’ll answer your questions. Where do you sleep? Paris. Paris? You’re going back to Paris in the evening? Yes.

100 kilometers. Legally the workers have to have an 11-hour break between shifts. The unionists suspect this rule isn’t being observed. But the CGT is not an official investigating authority. It’s complicated. The boss says he’s going to drive 100 kilometers to spend the night somewhere and come back the next day.

We don’t know if it’s 100 kilometers or more. Only the workers can say. We can only find out if they’re being cheated if they come to us, we can’t just guess what’s happening. It’s up to the laborers themselves to report problems. Only labor inspectors and police can take action against exploitation

In the vineyards. But both declined our interview requests. The reporters turn to the Corporation of Champagne Winegrowers, which comprises several thousand medium-sized winegrowers. Christophe Pernet. Nice to meet you. Thanks for seeing us. Of course. Christophe Pernet is a winemaker himself and has been active in the association for years.

We bring the winegrowers together and host events where various issues are flagged, such as working conditions, social issues and other official matters. What can you tell us about service providers? Well, there are lots of small businesses in Champagne and it’s sometimes hard for them to find workers.

And it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit people locally. That’s why we’ve seen an increase in outsourcing in recent years. We provide information on this. When you work with a service provider, you have to follow certain rules and make sure you check everything on site is in order.

Is there awareness of the conditions people work in? It seems the same problems arise year after year. I wouldn’t say every year. The grape harvest is a lucrative business. And unfortunately that attracts sometimes dishonest people. Unfortunately. Okay. After we finish filming, the winemakers present several proposals:

There is to be more accommodation for workers, the work should be better organized and, above all, stricter rules should apply to the service providers. Whether this will actually come to be remains to be seen. José Blanco has worked in the champagne industry for 36 years.

Today he’s a trade unionist and tackles the exploitation of workers by subcontractors. He starts work early. Most of them aren’t even earning 100 euros a day. They get between 40 and 50 euros, that’s below the going rate. Over the years, an entire system has evolved here with the support of the industry,

And the authorities simply look the other way. No one will be happy that we’re digging around. See that van over there? It’s just arrived. People are watching, they know we’re here. In the course of his campaign against exploitation, José has met the Minister of Labor and been in touch with local politicians

About visiting the vineyards. This work makes him a target. He and the reporters are clearly under observation. It’s a French license plate, a local one. What does this guy want? He’s definitely watching us. Yes. He’s on the phone. They keep an eye out all the time. José is undeterred.

He knows that some of the subcontractors come to this carpark to recruit workers. You can see the buses arriving here from various places also from Paris and dropping people off looking for work in the vineyards. No-one dropped off here stays with the winegrowers. Otherwise they’d be taken directly to the vineyards.

That’s a long commute… Absolutely. Some have been travelling for two hours. Now they’re waiting to see where they’ll be sent. José Blanco is convinced that some of the subcontractors are part of organized criminal networks. So there are people orchestrating it all? Oh yes, a team leader so to speak and a supervisor.

Shall we go over and talk to them? I’d rather not. It’s all well organized and secretive. I’m worried about my safety. A recent case showed that criminal activity does indeed exist. After seasonal workers reported a subcontractor network, the service provider was convicted of human trafficking in 2022.

This is one of the photos published in the local press. You can see workers sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Most of them were asylum seekers. The journalist Ishaq Anis knows how powerless people can feel in such situations. He fled from Afghanistan to France himself.

After being in touch with one of the seasonal workers from the court case for a while, Ishaq meets him for an interview in Paris. Sifatullah Wazirwall is also from Afghanistan. This is the first time since the ruling that he’s speaking publicly about the criminal network that exploited him.

We were told that we’d have a room for two people. That everything was clean and tidy. And that there would be food. When we got there, everything was different. There was only one big room, no beds and no mattresses. We slept on the floor. And you didn’t sign any contracts?

When we applied for the job, they didn’t give us a contract. I worked for five days without a contract. Then I told them, if you don’t give me a contract, I won’t work here anymore. That’s why I called the police. Okay. Tell me more about the working conditions. The work was very hard.

We worked until just before midnight. In the morning we got up around 5 or 6. There were 36 people in one room. There was only one toilet. These days Sifatullah Wazirwall has a job with a proper contract in Paris. His statements resulted in the biggest case of human trafficking in Champagne to date.

Many of the Afghan workers were represented by a lawyer based in the city of Reims. Benjamin Chauveaux used to take part in the grape harvest as a student himself. A lot has changed since then. The court is right in the middle of the region and now it’s also dealing with this industry.

It’s a major economic factor here. But we weren’t used to dealing with it in a criminal court. And then we heard a case that turned out to be huge. The lawyer agrees to talk to about it. He says that even now, more than a year after the ruling, many questions remain unanswered.

It was an extraordinary trial. But in terms of the outcome it was extremely frustrating. The verdict was frustrating? We saw a very large champagne brand that outsourced to a subcontractor, which in turn outsourced to another subcontractor. The court looked at these second and third levels.

But at the top of the pyramid was someone who was supposed to supervise the grape harvest on behalf of the big champagne brand. This person slipped through the net. Do you get the impression that an industry and some important players were being protected? The Champagne-Ardenne region relies to a large extent on winegrowing.

You can’t help thinking the case targeted the people doing the enforcing, not those giving the orders. This of course does not apply to the whole industry. But evidence against some subcontractors is piling up. Back in the vineyard. This young man who works for a subcontractor

Of a major champagne producer wants to remain anonymous. His statements sound familiar. I received no contract, no nothing. And what about the boss? He takes all the money and doesn’t distribute it to the workers. Sometimes we get more, sometimes we get less.

Some guy got paid like ?400 for working ten days, eleven days. For the same guy you are working for or another guy? The same guy. The reporters hear similar accounts over the following days. The image of Champagne has been tarnished, says trade unionist José Blanco.

It’s high time to stop exploitative subcontractors, he says in the interest of big brands, as rival products such as Italian Prosecco are becoming more popular. We hope that the employers, especially the main brands, will sit down together and put an end to this

For the sake of the image and the future of champagne. We’re fighting for our jobs, our industry; for our region. José Blanco was born in Champagne and worked in the industry for decades. His own son works in the vineyards during the harvest. He maintains there’s been systematic exploitation for a long time.

Inadequate accommodation for workers is one issue. Another camp, semi-legal. Last year they put labels on the dust bins. And now this year there are stickers for separated trash cans, which means they’ve have been provided by the municipality of Épernay. That means everyone knows: the mayor, the municipal association and the municipalities.

In fact, tents are officially forbidden in this part of Champagne. Yet illegal camps can be found all along the roadside. Up in the forest the conditions are especially shocking, an informant has told José. Together with his union colleague Noel Sainzelle, José wants to see for himself.

That looks like a bench and a table. Absolutely. And steps too … so it’s a proper camp. There was a camp here. But now everyone’s gone. The camp they’re looking for is believed to be further north. I think we have to go past the vineyard. Alright. Let’s go!

They find what they’re looking for at the edge of the forest. Makeshift tents, no toilet, no water connection, multiple plugs in wet grass. José is outraged. After a long day in the vineyards, in the rain imagine coming back in the evening to conditions like this. It’s catastrophic.

There are wild boars in these forests. I can just see them dropping by in the evening! It also looks like there are children living here. Suddenly a woman appears with her daughter. They don’t want to be filmed. It’s okay, we won’t film. What’s the boss’s name? I don’t know.

We’ve only been here for two or three days. Is everything OK? My husband has gone to work and I’m here with my daughter. Do you work in the vineyards too? Yes. While the men wait, Stephanie listens to the woman’s story. She’s from Romania.

She came here with her husband and the rest of her family. They were promised proper accommodation, with a toilet. But when they arrived, there was nothing here. That’s human trafficking. Absolutely! It’s human trafficking. I’ll call the labor department. That’s how it works in Champagne, that’s how it works here. We condemn it.

But this isn’t about the union. This is about these people. Wherever they’re from, they’re human beings, we can’t allow this to happen. It has to stop. After we finish filming, the reporters see footage of people in catastrophic accommodation, given inedible food. It’s clear that these are no isolated cases.

By the end of the season, hundreds of new victims of modern slavery have been discovered, with ongoing investigations into unpaid wages totalling millions and two new cases of human trafficking. A sorry indictment of one of the richest regions in the world.