Post Covid Drinks Trends

From functional drinks – think sleep aids, added vitamins, and stress relief – to hedonistic spending on premium products, RTDs, and flavour exploration, the pandemic changed the way we drink. But have any of these trends stuck? And, with all legal Covid restrictions dropped in the UK, have any of the trends predicted for when we emerged from the other side, actually happened?

I don’t know. A global pandemic; it’s enough to drive you to drink, eh? And drink we did. Research by Alcohol Change UK found around 20% of drinkers consumed alcohol more frequently during lockdown. And UK supermarkets also reported record sales.

Confined to our homes we raided the back of the metaphorical drinks cabinet and sent sales of forgotten, old fashioned, and darn right nostalgic tipples (relatively) soaring. Sherry, liqueurs, calvados, all received a sales boost, according to supermarkets and online retailers alike.

We also tried to recreate the bar and restaurant experience at home, gleefully turning mixologist with pre-prepared cocktail kits. And we filled the freezer with their premixed, prebatched, and pre-bottled cocktails too.

Meanwhile, consumers concerned with drinking too much, radically cut their intake. According to the IWSR, 37% of under-40s LDA consumers increased their no/low alc as part of wider lifestyle changes due to Covid-19.

Is the future, now?

And for those still consuming booze, we explored. Call it boredom, call it curiosity, call it – as many brands did – a growing connoisseurship and sophistication among drinkers, but consumers also upgraded their booze cabinet, spending more on better, more premium products, and trying new things.

But have any of these habits, so ingrained during lockdown, stuck? And what of the predictions for once lockdown was over. Have they happened?

Some habits have stuck according to online retailer Master of Malt (MOM), who says we are still, in fact, in the age of spirits discovery. As consumers continue to seek out new and interesting things to play with, the company says it has adapted its range and is now selling a broader range of spirits and drinks than ever before.

Brand loyalty is d-d-d-dead?

Customers are still treating themselves too. According to MOM’s latest trend bulletin, “though the pandemic seems to be far from over, the mindset of the initial lockdowns has remained, having changed consumers’ mindsets for good”. Put another way, a higher average spend has stuck, as people buy less, but better. It says while sales between ￡30-50 have remained stable, sales of products between ￡0-30 have halved, and sales of products over ￡100 have soared, more than doubling during the past year.

It's something that has led MOM to make a startling declaration: “This premiumisation means that brand loyalty is on its way out, in turn leading to brands having to hone their craft and offer fewer products, but of a much higher quality. It’s an exciting time – people are more willing to spend money on drinks discovery than ever before.” However, is the cost of living crisis about to spoil the fun, as disposable incomes are slashed, and consumers cut their spending?

Healthy-er

But when it comes to the much-touted shift by consumers to more healthy, functional drinks, are we really there yet? As written here previously, as the stresses and physical effects of the pandemic took hold, drinks makers responded with a myriad of functional products, aimed at curing everything from sleepless nights, to weakened immunity.

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