Ireland’s Easter alcohol spend up 5.3%

Supermarket* shoppers in Ireland spent €34.6 million on alcohol in the week leading to Easter, a 5.3% increase compared to last year, reveals recently-released Nielsen data.

 

 

The rise was a significant uplift over last year’s increase when sales rose 3.9% and it became the second year that the alcohol category benefited from the dropping of the ban on Good Friday alcohol sales.

This year’s growth in alcohol sales over Easter saw particular increases in spirit mixers (up 64.8%), cider (up 33.4%), lager (up 19.5%), ale (up 16%) and sparkling wine/Champagne (up 13.9%).

The rise in alcohol sales can also be attributed to the warm weather with this Easter being the hottest weekend of the year to date when temperatures peaked at 22.9C on Easter Saturday.

“A year into the lift on alcohol prohibition on Good Friday, coupled with the first taste of warm weather, shoppers in Ireland were looking at every opportunity to enjoy the sun with friends and family, spending more freely on alcohol than in the previous year,” remarked Karen Mooney, Ireland Market Leader at Nielsen, “We know that warm weather also had a big impact on alcohol sales and we can expect these categories to continue to grow should we experience another warm Summer akin to 2018. With this in mind, retailers should keep an eye on the weather forecast and ensure that when the sun shines, shelves are well-stocked, particularly with beers, ciders, sparkling wines and pre-mixed drinks.”

 

 

* Data does not include discounters.