The degree goes down: the demand for low-alcohol drinks soared

It became known what kind of alcohol Russians are most willing to drown out stress

Demand for “light” alcohol in Russia soared by more than one and a half times (by 57%). According to Rosalkogolregulirovanie, Russians began to buy champagnes and sparkling wines more often – in 10 months these products were sold by 8.1% more than a year earlier. The highest growth rates in January-October were achieved in sales of liqueur wines (fortified, sweet) – 2.4 times. Experts told why low-alcohol drinks are currently in the greatest demand.

Companies that conduct research on the food market, change consumer behavior, often use the term “stress cure”. This is a conditional name for a group of goods whose sales grow during a crisis, in moments of serious uncertainty. The consumer, figuratively speaking, “jams” or “washes down” stress by buying alcohol (mainly sweet, festive drinks), confectionery (cakes, sweets, pastries, chocolate), as well as groceries – pasta, cereals. It is these categories that have grown by 12% over the 10 months of this year (all together, combined into the conditional group “drugs for stress”).

We can say that the first reason for the growth in the consumption of weak alcohol is the desire of people against a difficult news background to please themselves with something, arrange a small holiday, get distracted, says Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner of B&C Agency. By the way, it is precisely this behavior of consumers that explains the fact that such areas as entertainment are growing against the backdrop of a decline in the service sector. Russians are more active in attending events and establishments that can help to temporarily distance themselves from disturbing or even bad news, to forget about them.

“The second reason for the growth in sales of champagne, sparkling wines and liquors is the desire to make stocks,” the MK interlocutor believes. – Someone buys expensive drinks, since Western brands left Russia, someone decided to invest in this way, to avoid price increases by buying what they need in a larger volume. After all, our citizens are traditionally confident that in a situation of instability, prices will continue to rise, and it would be wise to buy what you need in advance. Moreover, alcohol is stored for a long time and will be needed during the long New Year holidays.

Vadim Drobiz, director of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA), has a different opinion. According to him, this year there were more consumers in the country, which is why the demand has grown so much. “This year the middle class did not travel 2-3 times to rest in other countries, as it always did. They stayed in the country and so consumption increased. Another factor is the crisis. In a crisis, the demand for alcohol always grows,” he said.