No longer flavour of the month
Some wines, fizzy drinks, sugary shelf-stable fruit juices and cordial syrups are fast falling out of favour with New Zealand grocery shoppers. Last year Kiwis combined spent $3.3 billion on beverages in supermarkets alone, up from $3.16b recorded a year earlier.
While carbonated drinks and shelfstable juices are not making the weekly shopping list for many Kiwis, it is also the case for liquor, with some categories fast on the decline.
Forty-five per cent of all drinks sold in grocery stores are liquor, though last year liquor sales in supermarkets were down 0.8 per cent on five years previously. Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and cask white wines fronted the decline. Non-alcoholic beverages make up 22 per cent of all drinks sold in grocery stores, down 1.1 per cent on the past five years.
Flavoured milks and chilled fruit juice rose by 16.3 per cent, while coffee products increased by 16.1 per cent.
Greg Harford, Retail NZ general manager of public affairs, said the decline in liquor sold at supermarkets was interesting.
“[Liquor] is still a significant part of what people are spending on beverages at supermarkets. People do like the convenience of being able to buy a bottle of wine or a few beers when they do their weekly grocery shop,” Harford said.
“People can buy beer and wine from a number of other retailers; specialty liquor stores, vineyards, direct to consumer businesses operating online, it’s a strong, competitive market, 0.8 per cent isn’t a too significant drop but it does show supermarkets are holding their own.”
Kiwis spent $1.65b in specialised liquor stores last year, compared to around $1.48b in supermarkets. Alcohol consumption per capita in New Zealand is on the decline, Harford said, adding consumers were no longer interested in regular drinks.
“Consumers are interested in new products coming on to the market and it also shows supermarkets, and suppliers to supermarkets, have been working pretty hard to innovate new products that are appealing,” he said.
“It’s not people are necessarily spending less on beverages, they are simply spending less on some of those traditional soft drinks and more on innovative lifestyle products.”