Take-home alcohol still highest-growing grocery sector
So far, the first week of February has shown growth of 48% in alcohol sales over the same week in 2020.
Take-home alcohol accounted for 29% of total market growth – more than any other grocery sector – over the 12-week period to the 7th of February and it grew by 37% over the 52 weeks to the 7th of February according to NielsenIQ’s latest FMCG Market Update.
While take-home alcohol growth rates were lower in January, perhaps as people partook in ‘Dry January’, sales of No Alcohol Lo Alcohol Beers experienced a 48% off-trade uplift in that month compared with January 2020. NABLAB sales increased 47% in the first week of February giving an overall growth figure of 30% for the 52 weeks to the 7th of February compared with the same period 12 months previously.
On a year-on-year basis, take-home beer sales grew 54% in the year to the 7th of February while spirits sales grew 29% and wine 25%.
In comparing growth in the first four weeks of this year to that in 2020, Nielsen found that total alcohol sales grew 35% with beer up 49%, spirits up 25%, wine up 27% and NABLABs up 48% when compared to January 2020.
So far, the first week of February has shown growth of 48% in alcohol sales over the same week in 2020 while beer sales showed growth of 62%, spirits sales 36%, wine sales 42% and NABLAB sales 47%.
Ice cubes
It’s also interesting to note that sales of ‘ice cubes’ were up 69% in the first week of February.
Ice cube sales showed growth all round, with sales up 35% in the year to February compared to the same period in 2020 and they were up 17% in January compared to January 2020.
