Sparkling wine boosts Christmas at Lidl and Booths

Sales of sparkling wine rose 24% over Christmas at Lidl as the retailer saw record footfall across its stores, while northern retailer Booths also reported strong sales of English wines.

Last year it was the UK’s thirst for pink Prosecco that helped Lidl reach a record Christmas, with more than 6 million glasses – or 18,000 glasses every hour – sold in the four weeks to 27 December 2021, which accounted for around  6% of the year’s entire rosé Prosecco production. And it was sparking again that was a stand out category for the discounter

The retailer saw overall sales rise 2.6% on last year’s record-breaking sales, or around 21% up on 2019. This helped made it the fastest growing bricks and mortar retailer for the second year running, according to Kantar, with footfall also up +14% higher than its busiest day – the 23rd December, adding around £21m of spend during December.

Lidl’s outgoing CEO Christian Härtnagel, who will move to his new role as CEO of Lidl Germany on 1st March 2022, said that as inflation continued to rise, he wanted to reassure Lidl’s customers that the retailer  remained “resolute in our promise of being the destination for the lowest grocery prices in the market”.

The retailer also remains committed to its planned expansion and investment plan, which will see £1.3 billion invested over the next two years to  reach its target of 1,000 stores by the end of 2023.

Northern promise

Meanwhile, upmarket northern retailer Booths, saw strong sales of sparkling wine, with Champagne sales up 21% on the same period last year, and English wines, both still and sparkling, continuing to grow, rising 4% year-on-year, or a whopping 73% on 2019 figures. Overall the retailer saw growth of 6.5%, although it noted a significant increase in Christmas pre-orders during October and November, as consumers planned ahead for all eventualities.  Booths’ commercial and wholesale sales also increased, rising 4.3 % from 2020.