2020 was an outlier year. With lockdowns, border closures and social restrictions, Australians were hindered in their ability to socialise whilst forced to stay at home. But Christmas was a different story. Australians were gifted with the easing of social restrictions and enjoyed this holiday season with our loved ones.
IRI off-premise sales data show Christmas was enjoyed with a drink in hand. Christmas trading was underpinned by a surge in consumer confidence in late 2020 and early 2021. While the Christmas period did not experience the same levels of growth as seen during the peak stockpiling buying periods, retail liquor sales recorded healthy gains, with 2020’s festive trading more than doubling 2019’s growth of 5 per cent, recording an uplift beyond 11 per cent (4 wks to 27/12/20 vs YA).
Rising Spirits
Glass Spirits surpassed wine in dollar sales accumulated during the key festive selling period. In fact, Glass Spirits lead the growth for Liquor with a phenomenal dollar growth of 20 per cent.
Gin and Vodka once again continued the growth momentum, just as we observed in 2019. Scotch also contributed significant growth this Christmas despite being in decline the previous Christmas, thanks to the continued resurgence of Johnnie Walker.
RTD’s growth driven by the old and the new
RTD was the fastest growing segment in Liquor in 2020 with 25.9 per cent dollar growth. Vodka and Bourbon led the movement driven by established brands such as Cruiser, Jack Daniels, and Wild Turkey. Cruiser is the standout across the calendar year and has now firmly taken over from Canadian Club as the category’s leading growth contributor.
Hard Seltzer, a new and much hyped segment made its mark this Christmas bringing in a considerable $11m over the Christmas period.
Sparkling Christmas for Wine
Wine did not record the stellar performance Sprits did during Christmas. Despite a dollar growth of 8.4 per cent, Wine’s volume growth has remained relatively flat at 0.2% per cent.
Irrespective of the category performance, Wine remains a key pillar of Christmas trading, accounting for nearly a quarter of dollar sales.
Champagne and Prosecco underpinned robust Sparkling Wine trading by being the top volume growth varietals in the overall category. Champagne ( up 32 per cent) remains the number one varietal in both dollar sales and growth. Meanwhile, Rosé wine continues its impressive growth momentum with dollar growth nearing 20 per cent.
More Craft and Contemporary, Less Cider
Like Wine, Beer volume growth remained flat, up just 0.9% per cent despite a moderate dollar growth of 3.5 per cent for Christmas.
Much like in 2019, Craft and Contemporary recorded strong growth in value and volume over the Christmas period. However, this was not enough to offset the decline driven by Premium Beer as well as Classic Beer.
Cider also continued its decline, like last year, despite experiencing growth during panic buying periods of 2020.
Final Thoughts
Christmas is a celebratory affair and the pandemic did not slow down the festivities behind it. The liquor trends this Christmas saw Australians treating themselves after enduring a tough year. A sense of normalcy has been restored with growth trends seen in Christmas 2019 again leading the way in Christmas 2020.
IRI MarketEdge, Australia Liquor Unweighted, 4 weeks to 27/12/20 (Christmas 2020) v 4 weeks to 29/12/19 (Christmas 2019)
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