• July 29, 2011

Sales for all three alcohol categories in food, mass and drug retailers rose in the 52-week period ending June 12, according to SymphonyIRI.

Wine sales grew 4%, to $5.9 billion; spirits sales grew 2.6%, to $2.3 billion; and even beer, which has been downtrending for some time, grew 1%, to $8.4 billion.

In the drugstore channel, the tracker's data show beer sales grew 6.9%, while wine sales jumped 21.9%.

Supermarket News also reports that an AlixPartners consumer survey finds 87% of consumers saying that they will spend the same or more on alcoholic beverages in the coming 12 months--up signficantly from 70% saying that in last year's survey. However, the firm added that some indicators point to a stagnation in beer sales going forward.

SN quotes sources attributing much of the recent lifts to alcohol makers' pulling back on discounting prices in response to increases in their input costs, plus a trend toward marketing based on selection, education and food/alcoholic beverage pairings.