Sales of ‘spirits’ to set record in December
Holiday season a big boon to booze sellers
Alcohol sales in Canada are on track to hit a record high this month and for all of 2012, says a new report. The average Canadian adult will spend more than $85 on booze in December, which translates to about one bottle of spirits, three bottles of wine and 27 bottles of beer, according to the BMO Holiday “Spirits” report.
“If the strength we’ve seen so far persists through the holiday season, then the industry is on track for a very strong and probably a record year,” BMO economist Aaron Goertzen said Friday. Alcohol sales in December are typically 40 per cent higher than the monthly average as Canadians get in the festive spirit.
Annual sales are expected to top $19 billion this year, about 38 per cent or $700 million higher than in 2011, Goertzen said. By comparison, the retail sector as a whole is usually up 15 per cent to 20 per cent from holiday shopping, the report said.
“Last December, the average Canadian adult spent just over $85 on alcohol; with around one-third of wine sales originating from domestic wineries, this represents a boon to Canadian producers,” said Goertzen.
The report said Quebecers have shown the most pronounced increase in holiday spending on alcohol, with sales rising about 65 per cent above average in December. British Columbians will only increase holiday spending by 30 per cent, the report said.
A recent BMO report on Canada’s wine industry said that a third of wine consumed in Canada is produced by domestic wineries. Consumers bought an average of 22 bottles of wine in 2011, up from 13 in 1995, that report also said.