In a climate of deflated consumer spending in the UK (the value of spending on food went down by 1.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to January 3), the value of drinks sales went up by 2.2 per cent over the Christmas period, with a growing demand for premium drinks bolstering the statistic, thedrinksbusiness.com has reported.
This saw the drinks sub-category of sparkling wines grow in sales value by 11 per cent, according to Kantar, while the value of Christmas foods fell by 2.2 per cent.
Ronny Gottschlich, CEO of Lidl UK, which was the supermarket chain that enjoyed the most prosperous Christmas in terms of sales growth, said, “In a year we have doubled our champagne offering by volume and 2015 was the first year that we offered a Blanc de Blancs champagne.
“In addition to this, our Brut Champagne sales have topped over one million bottles in 2015, demonstrating an appetite and willingness amongst consumers to upgrade to premium offerings while doing their main family shopping.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
