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UK wine and spirits industry hopes Christmas will make up for a hard 2013

Published:  13 December, 2013

The UK wine and spirit industry has had a tough 2013 with sales down in both the on and off-trades, according to the latest market report from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.

The UK wine and spirit industry has had a tough 2013 with sales down in both the on and off-trades, according to the latest market report from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.

Its research has found that volume sales in the on-trade were down 5%, while off-rade sales were down -1%. Value sales in the on-trade remained flat, with the off-trade showing some improvement with value sales up 3%.

 Miles Beale, the WSTA chief exectuive, said of the figures:  "Overall, wine and spirits businesses continue to operate in a tough trading environment with the duty escalator pushing up prices for hard pressed consumers. We are hoping the Christmas trading period will buck last year's trend when we saw big declines in both the on and off trade. With the boom in innovative new product ranges and growing consumer confidence, a strong final few months would provide a much needed boost to the trade."

Key off-trade findings include: 

?             Total volume sales in the off-trade were down 1% for the year and 1% for the last 12 weeks. The WSTA claims the duty escalator is responsible for the 3% jump in value sales.

?             Overall wine sales were down 3% in 2013 and 5% for the last 12 weeks.

?             Sparkling wine continues to be the one highlight for the sector with sales up 10% and cider continues to grow, up 1%. The only categories to record year-on-year growth.

?             Volume sales were down for both wine and spirits for the year and in the past quarter. Champagne, fortified wines and RTDs were also down over the short and long term.  

Key on-trade trends include:

?             Despite the freeze on the duty escalator for beer in the last budget overall beer sales were down 6% for the year and 8% over the past 12 weeks.

?             Sales of RTDs continue to decline heavily, falling 27% in the last 12 weeks and 17% over the year as consumers switched to flavoured spirits products, such as tequila and whisky infused beers.

?             Sparkling wine and Champagne experienced strong growth over the year, with sparkling wine having a particularly positive 12 weeks up  by 16%.

?             Spirits value sales were up 1% with price increases being driven primarily by the 5.3% increase in duty.

Miles Beale, the WSTA chief exectuive, said of the figures:  "Overall, wine and spirits businesses continue to operate in a tough trading environment with the duty escalator pushing up prices for hard pressed consumers. We are hoping the Christmas trading period will buck last year's trend when we saw big declines in both the on and off trade. With the boom in innovative new product ranges and growing consumer confidence, a strong final few months would provide a much needed boost to the trade."

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