With the big supermarkets synonymous with big deals on everything at Christmas, some forecourt retailers might be forgiven for thinking their off licence section will be quiet over the festive period.
But for Top 50 Indie Penny Petroleum aka Penny on the Move, the Christmas holiday period remains a very important time for the beer, wines and spirits category.
COO Vicky Hennessy says there are several reasons for this including the continued closing down of pubs and also the lack of disposable income, pushing people to celebrate at home.
“There are more reasons though, including the convenience in the times that we are open, the fact that we can offer a delivery service and our extensive range. This all supports the BWS category well over the festivities and, in particular, for any last minute purchases,” she says.
Hennessy acknowledges that trends come and go but is happy to flex Penny’s range to cater for this. “We are seeing a lot of new ready-to-drink (RTD) options coming in to the market and this category is growing for us, as well as our zero alcohol range.
“We have also seen a rise in sales of the smaller size spirits. This may be down to the rise in the cost of living. Whatever it is down to, we have expanded this range across the board.”
She says that geographically they see differences in buying habits and adapt accordingly. “We carry a diverse range from speciality whiskys in the Highlands, to a large selection of flavoured gins and vodka in other sites.
“We prepared for Christmas some time ago with our wholesalers and will start to receive allocations from November. We always sell a lot of the large, boxed beers and we do permanent deals on our bottled beers, which are also popular.
“Thatchers has a new apple and blackcurrant cider now available and Hooch is also making a comeback so I am expecting that these will also be good sellers this Christmas.”
No-and-low
Hennessy was right to single out zero-alcohol drinks as both low and no alcohol drinks are performing well, according to drinks data experts ISWR, partly as a result of the ongoing consumer trend for moderation as well as changes in excise duty.
The ISWR says the overall no/low-alcohol segment showed volume growth of 47%, from 2022 to 2023, with forecast volume CAGR of +19%, 2023 to 2028. The no/low-alcohol segment is expected to add incremental value of £0.8bn by 2028.
Low-alcohol volume sales almost doubled in 2023 and IWSR expects considerable growth over the next few years, particularly driven by low-alcohol beer.
Recognising the growing popularity of lower abv beer, BrewDog Cold Beer is now available nationwide, following an initial launch with the Tesco group. The 3.4% lager uses historic brewing techniques from the Kolsch style, fermenting the beer with an ale yeast but at the lower lager temperature, hence the term ‘Cold Beer’. This adds additional flavour from the ale yeast to the beer.
Meanwhile, Hennessy was spot on again when she singled out RTDs, as ISWR reports that the only major category expected to increase consumption between 2023 and 2028 is RTDs. It says premium cocktails are gaining traction and canned RTDs are now being joined in the marketplace by a wider range of bottled ready-to-serve cocktails and spirit-derived liqueurs.
Cheers for the beers
Christmas is obviously a key selling period for beer, with 22% of total beer sales taking place during the 12 weeks to Christmas (Circana total impulse sales).
“Christmas 2023 saw beer sales grow +11.3% in value and +0.6% in volume vs the prior year,” says Caitlin Brown, off-trade category development executive at BrewDog PLC. “Across total beer, value growth continued to exceed volume growth as duty and cost of living impacted shopper behaviour.”
Looking specifically at craft beer, Brown says Christmas 2023 saw the category continue to grow its share of total beer sales at +1.2% – outperforming total beer in both value (+12.4%) and volume growth (+1.5% - Circana)).
“Last year was a strong year overall for BrewDog, with the introduction of exciting NPD, including Black Heart and Wingman, which gave the brand strong momentum approaching the festive season. This resulted in excellent sales +18.2% value and +9.9% in volume – leading the category (Circana).
“We know that BrewDog shoppers are extremely valuable, spending +28.8% more on their total basket than average beer shoppers. So, listing top-performing craft beer SKUs, such as BrewDog Punk IPA, Hazy Jane New England IPA and mixed multipacks as part of a Christmas display will help to upweight total spend in-store.”
With socialising and entertaining more frequent over the festive period, larger eight-plus can count packs are the key formats for craft beer, with 12.1% of sales going through this format at Christmas vs an average of 9.4% over the remainder of the year.
“Although eight-plus count craft beer packs are an important pack format all year round, we recommend retailers open off-fixture space to accommodate additional large packs during the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year to ensure stock is available and to maximise impulse sales,” says Brown.
She explains that the BrewDog Mixed 330ml can eight-pack, featuring the brand’s best sellers, is a particularly important sku over the Christmas season. “Growing +5.5% year-on-year it offers shoppers the opportunity to trial different styles of beer for sharing occasions over the festive period. However, BrewDog Punk IPA is the flagship brand, holding 36% of the category while seeing strong value growth (+3.9%) in the run up to Christmas. Top selling formats are the four-pack (worth 27.1% vol of craft) and eight-pack (4.8% volume share), making them both an absolute must-stock.”
Stout’s resurgence in popularity continues and over the 12 weeks to Christmas 2023, it saw a 26.8% uplift in value and 10.3% uplift in volume. Brown says this is in part thanks to the launch of BrewDog Black Heart, which made its mark on the category in 2023.
Sprucy Lucy
The latest line from BrewDog was created with Spar. Called Sprucy Lucy, it is a 4.5% West Coast Session Pale, combining seven hops for a piney taste.
Lauren Carroll, chief marketing officer at BrewDog, comments: “We were honoured to collaborate with Spar on this unique beer, tapping into the growing impulse channel and highlighting the brand’s heritage by featuring its familiar pine symbol on the synonymous green, red and white can.”
Finally, sticking with Spar but going back to that original comment about big deals at supermarkets, the symbol group has just announced that its BIG Deals of Christmas will be back this year. Spar’s retail and brand development director Ian Taylor, says: “At this time of year, customers are looking for value without compromising on quality, and by providing attractive deals on leading BWS brands, we ensure our customers can make the most of Christmas hosting and gifting more affordable and enjoyable.”
