The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has attacked Asda for suggesting that young people are obtaining alcohol from convenience stores.
The supermarket giant has published results of third party test purchasing of alcohol at its stores and says they had a pass rate of 95.2%, which is higher than the overall supermarket sector and ahead of the off-trade market as a whole.
It added: “According to our test purchase company nine out of ten underage drinkers think convenience stores are currently the easiest place to get served alcohol – with 85% of those surveyed saying smaller stores offered them the best chance of being served. Only 3% said they thought they’d get away with it in a supermarket.”
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We’re pleased for Asda achieving these results, and for their focus on the reducing the number of young people purchasing alcohol. It is also good to see our members’ strong results on test purchasing.
“However, we do not believe that Asda’s attempt at point scoring helps, and their implication that young people access alcohol from convenience stores is simply wrong.
“We believe that co-ordinated action to reduce alcohol harm is the most constructive approach, and significant progress is being made in this area through the Retail Alcohol Standards Group of which both ACS and Asda are members."
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