Nielsen: in the holiday season people clink glasses

Spirit sales traditionally soar in December, for instance in November-December 2016 volume sales increased by 35 percent from the level in September-October 2016; in the same period value sales jumped 40 percent. Nielsen audits nine segments in the spirit category: bitter, vodka, whisky, pálinka, liqueur, vermouth, rum, gin and brandy.

In November-December 2016 Hungarians spent more than HUF 17 billion on spirits, almost 5 percent more than in the same period of 2015. Shoppers took home 40,000 hectolitres of distilled beverages. Total spirit sales neared HUF 76 billion in 2016, so 22 percent of annual sales was realised in the winter holiday season. This is the period when the demand for bitters, whiskies and liqueurs peaks. Stores bigger than 400m² are responsible for about 60 percent of annual sales. Whiskies are the most expensive spirits, but in the majority of categories the price is between HUF 4,000-5,000/litre.

It isn’t surprising that bitter is one of the biggest spirit categories: Nielsen measured an 11-percent growth from one winter holiday season to another. Sales grew the most in 2016 in the smallest category, gin, by 20 percent. As regards value sales, branded products performed 5 percent better from one season to another, while private label product sales grew by 9 percent. About 80 percent of spirits sold are marketed in 0.7-litre size. //

_{Katalin Séra
consultant
Nielsen}