Euro 2016 boosts lager sales as wine dips

UK supermarket sales of lager boomed by £10.4 million ahead of England’s first Euro 2016 match on Saturday against Russia, while wine sales suffered a £2.6m drop, according to IRI.

Eland drew their first Euro 2016 match against Russia on 11 June

In the week ending 11 June, the day that England drew one all with Russia in their first Euro 2016 match, sales of lager spiked 25%, achieving an additional £10.4 million in supermarket sales compared to average weekly sales achieved over the previous 8 weeks.

IRI’s Retail Advantage database, which collects sales data for thousands of FMCG products across the UK’s major supermarkets, also highlighted sales increases for cider and ale during the first few days of the Euro 2016 championships.

Revenue from cider sales increased by the most, 33.9%, adding £4.3 million to supermarket topline sales.

IRI’s director of strategic insight for retail, Martin Wood said was likely to have been the result of effective marketing campaigns running up to the event and new product launches, noting Kopparberg in particular.

Sales of ale sales grew by 8.9%, adding £1.1 million in sales. The total sales uplift from beer, lager and cider contributed an extra £15.8 million for retailers.

“Both retailers and manufacturers should be taking advantage of key football games in this tournament, planning promotions that leverage the party spirit around the British teams,” he added.

But while beer and cider sales appeared to benefit from the sporting event, sales of wine took a hit, decreasing by 2.7%, representing a loss of £2.6m worth of sales compared to the previous weeks.

“Assuming England continue to play well after [yesterday’s] win against Wales, we expect to see even bigger increases in beer, lager and cider sales as the game progresses, leading to a bumper few weeks of sales for retailers.”

Source: IRI