Olympics to be damp squib claims Euromonitor

Euromonitor International has reported that any expected jump in alcohol consumption due to the Olympics will fail to materialise.

The document entitled “Olympic Impact on the UK Economy and Consumer Goods Industries” spells out some depressing home truths about the impact of the London 2012 games.

The drinks business has already reported that the Olympic Games could generate an extra £323m for the UK on-trade, but suppliers are already counting the costs of dislocation in the capital.

Many have forecast that the Olympics will drive alcohol sales on the back of a disappointingly wet summer, but Euromonitor reported that, “while a short-lived and localised boost for certain industry categories is not entirely out of the question, the fundamental indicators, historic lessons and brewing pan-European macroeconomic storm suggest otherwise.”

According to Euromonitor International, overall alcoholic drinks volumes in the UK are actually set to register only 2% total decline in 2012.

This would represent an improvement on the dismal 5% decline posted in 2011; although this could be contributed to a flattening out of figures after years of consistent and strong declines.

Spelling out why the Olympics will not be a win-all situation of alcohol sales, the report stated, “High levels of saturation and maturity, record and mounting taxation barriers, creeping neoprohibitionist rhetoric along with the widening gap between the squeezed on-trade and a losing supermarket channel, have become so endemic that reversing them would take far more than a month-long celebration in a couple of key cities  across the country.”

Using the World Cup in South africa in 2010 and the 2004 Olympic Games as examples, Euromonitor explained that significant jumps in consumption spectacularly failed to materialise.

“While Greece completely failed to capitalise on the Olympic media spotlight to promote locally produced varieties (only to ironically embrace wine exports in the midst of its current on-going collapse), South African wines did witness a significant increase in shipments to a number of markets after the World Cup, most notably Brazil,” it added.

Some advice to make the most of the Olympic opportunity is “identifying quintessentially British offerings and jumping on the already crammed Olympic bandwagon might sound obvious and secondary to the London-centric Olympic fever – it’s anything but that.”

“Scotch, Pimm’s, gin and even the much-mocked but rapidly improving English sparkling wines can focus on quirkiness, heritage, eccentricity and signature history to reach out to billions around the globe.

“While major brands can enjoy an obvious advantage in this respect, niche producers,  craft brewers and micro-distillers can also make the most of the beaming Olympic halo to raise their profile and boost exports over the short to medium term.”

Further reporting and analysis from Euromonitor on the Olympics was featured in our July magazine and can be read here.