Argentinian wine, rosé, and ready-to-drink (RTD) options were some of the alcoholic beverages which saw a strong uplift in retail sales during lockdowns and restrictions in 2020.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s (WSTA) latest market report – which gathers alcohol sales data covering sales in supermarkets, other shops, and pubs, bars and restaurants – shows consumers were experimenting with new tipples during the pandemic.
In the 12 months to 26 December 2020, sales of wine from Argentina in UK supermarkets and shops jumped 41% compared to the year before. Five years ago in 2016, UK wine drinkers bought just under 7 million bottles of Argentinian wine. Last year Brits bought over 50 million bottles.
Wine proved to be a big hit with shoppers during 2020 with rosé seeing the biggest uplift in sales compared to 2019, up 22% in volume, with over 113 million bottles sold. This compares to just over 22 million bottles sold in 2016.
Although rosé wine sales have seen a meteoric rise in the last five years, sales of red and white wine still remain considerably higher. Last year, shops and supermarkets sold almost 508 million bottles of white wine and close to 434 million bottles of red.
Another notable trend last year was a big increase in the number of RTD’s, including gin & tonics and cocktails in cans, along with new products like hard seltzers.
In 2020, British consumers spent £412m on beverages from the RTD category, up 23% from the previous year. This is almost double the value of RTDs five years ago when the category was worth £234m.
Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the WSTA, said: “The latest market report gives us a fascinating insight into what people have been drinking at home during the pandemic. With pubs closed and the opportunity for fun in short supply it appears that people have been looking to break up the mundane by exploring new tastes and tipples.
“This has clearly benefited Argentinian wine makers who had been steadily gaining more UK customers in recent years but made a massive leap in sales last year. Similarly, rosé has been on the up in recent years but was given an extra boost in 2020 during the lockdowns and the warm weather. Interestingly the rosé trend continued during the winter months.
“RTDs are another category which has been gaining ground at a rapid rate. Last year consumer curiosity and convenience drove a real boom in the variety of mixed drinks cans on the market, with consumers trying out new drink experiences in smaller packaging.”
He added: “With the hospitality sector once again being able to host people indoors from Monday it will be interesting to see if these new home drinking preferences creep into consumers drinking habits when we are back into our favourite pubs and restaurants.”
