Employees at champagne firm on trial for human trafficking

Three employees of a firm that provided workers to pick grapes for champagne have gone on trial for human trafficking, in one of the biggest labour scandals to hit France's exclusive sparkling wine industry.

- Angelique Chrisafis

The employees supplying grape pickers for the champagne harvest in 2023 were charged with human trafficking and exploiting seasonal workers, submitting vulnerable people to undignified housing conditions, and employing foreign nationals without authorisation. The firm itself was also on trial for moral responsibility. The case, being heard at the criminal court of Châlons-en-Champagne in north-eastern France, has become known in the country as "the grape harvest of shame".