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CHRISTMAS WINE & SPIRITS
FEATURE: PERNOD RICARD UK
LOCKDOWN GROWTH ‘TO CONTINUE TO CHRISTMAS’
SPIRITS GIANT PERNOD RICARD UK IS PREDICTING THAT THE INCREASED WINE AND SPIRITSSALES THAT RETAILERS HAVE SEEN DURING LOCKDOWN WILL CONTINUE AND DRIVE GROWTH THISCHRISTMAS.
KEY TRENDS
Pernod Ricard UK predicts the following trends this Christmas:
The Christmas purchasing period will start earlier this year
Cocktail-making at home will be big
Focus on the winning categories: gin, vodka, whisk(e)y and wine
Christmas 2020 is set to be a very unusual one for local retailers. With the on-trade operating at much reduced capacity and consumers now firmly entrenched in lockdown drinking-at-home habits, this year’s festive season represent a significant but challenging opportunity for retailers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated consumer trends that were already starting to emerge and Pernod Ricard, the world’s second largest wine and spirits company, is predicting that these trends will continue driving wine and spirits growth this Christmas. The company has highlighted three key levers to unlock sales and profit growth this Christmas.
GET IN EARLY
Pernod Ricard UK (PRUK) expects shoppers to start buying wines and spirits for Christmas much earlier than they usually do for a number of coronavirus-related reasons.
Chris Shead, Off-Trade Channel Director, comments: “Lockdown has altered consumer shopping habits and one of the biggest changes within wine and spirits has been the shift in consumer spend to the convenience off-trade.
“The trend to shop locally continues to drive impulse and this provides a real opportunity to the channel in the run up to Christmas, to become a destination for key festive categories such as whisk(e)y and wine.
“With social distancing measures likely to still be in place, we’re predicting the Christmas purchasing period will happen earlier, with shoppers planning ahead of time to minimise time spent in store.”
FESTIVAL-AT-HOME COCKTAIL OCCASIONS
Cancelled holidays and on-trade closures during lockdown encouraged consumers to find new drinking occasions to enjoy like virtual cocktail hours and Zoom drinks with friends. One trend noted by PRUK was increased experimentation with serves, particularly cocktails with fewer ingredients that were easier to make. Again, the company expects this trend to continue through to Christmas. Indeed, some 46% of 19-34 year olds in a recent PRUK survey saying they would make cocktails at home this Christmas with more than one-fifth of all shoppers saying they would be giving cocktails a shake over the festive period.
CONFINEMENT COCKTAILS
Research shows that shoppers making cocktails at home during lockdownprefer simpler drinks with fewer ingredients. PRUK suggests a couple ofeasy-to-make cocktails that retailers can suggest to shoppers to drivebasket spend and footfall:
PINA COLADA
The number two home-made cocktail, helping Malibu achieve 79% volume and 86% value growth in the off-trade during lockdown.
Ingredients: one part Malibu, one part coconut cream, three parts pineapple juice
ESPRESSO MARTINI
Another home-made favourite.
Ingredients: 40 ml Absolut, 20 ml Kahlúa, 20 ml coffee
BACK THE WINNING CATEGORIES
Independent research by PRUK among almost 2,000 consumers identified gifting (48%) and hosting (56%) as the main reasons for spirit purchases at Christmas. Gin, Vodka, Irish Whiskey and Wine have always been important categories for both hosting and gifting at Christmas, however, growth has accelerated in these sectors in 2020. There are the four key categories that have seen exponential growth during the lockdown period, says the company.
GIN
Gin has been remarkably resilient during lockdown and has seen continued double-digit growth for the past 12 weeks, up 38.4% vs. MAT +12.1%. PRUK’s gin portfolio has been in strong growth with Beefeater up 99.5% in value and 96.5% in the offtrade in the last 12 weeks and Plymouth up 33.6% over the same period.
VODKA
Vodka is now the second biggest value contributor in Total Spirits after flavoured Gin, worth £45.9m in value sales. Absolut is the fastest growing brand in its competitive set and is experiencing strong value growth momentum (up 18.3%). Absolut continues to command the majority of Premium+ Vodka Off-Trade sales with the value share growing 57%.
IRISH WHISKEY
Irish Whiskey is the second-fastest growing category behind Gin, with Jameson leading its remarkable growth. Jameson is the number one Irish Whiskey brand and is seeing a significant performance in the offtrade (up 22.1% value), and growing seven times faster than Total Whisky (+3.1%).
WINE
Wine momentum is building as more consumers enjoyed wine at home, as opposed to in pubs and bars, during the Covid-19 crisis and the off-trade has seen 27% value growth and +22% volume growth. PRUK is ramping up investment in this category and can claim the number one red wine and number white wine in the UK with Campo Viejo and Brancott Estate respectively. The company is also continuing to add value to the market through the average bottle price being over £1 the market value (£7.23 vs £6.07).
PRUK APPOINTS MCCURRACH
Pernod Ricard UK hasappointed Glasgow-basedMcCurrach as its new fieldsales agency to reach morestores ahead of the festiveperiod. The appointment seesa brand new permanent teamcreated to cover over 1,800stores. Pernod Ricard UK willalso be a full category partnerfor McCurrach’s InnovativeMyStore+ app, joining currentleading FMCG companies aspartners to provide categoryadvice, offers and rewards toretailers via the app.
Chris Shead, Off-Trade ChannelDirector at Pernod RicardUK, comments: “With socialdistancing measures likely tostill be in place, we’re predictingthe Christmas purchasingperiod will happen earlier, withshoppers planning ahead of timeto minimise time spent in store.We’re delighted to be workingwith McCurrach to ensurewe are supporting retailers toact fast to retain these newshoppers and that the rightproducts are available based onemerging consumer trends.”
