Liquor down, chilled juices up: Kiwis splash out $3.3 billion on drinks at supermarkets

Soft drinks and cordial drinks are falling out of favour with Kiwis. Photo / 123RF

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, according to Nielsen data.

Across all retail categories Kiwis spent $20.1b in supermarkets last year.

While carbonated drinks and shelf-stable juices are not making the weekly shopping list for many Kiwis, surprisingly this 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's share of liquor sales as a proportion of all beverages sold 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, and have declined in share of beverage spend by 1.1 per cent on the past five years.

Flavoured milks and chilled fruit juice rose by 1.1 per cent in share, 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, even though the fall was less than 1 per cent.

"[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 with about $1.48b in supermarkets.

Source: Nielsen

Alcohol consumption per capita in New Zealand is on the decline, Harford said.

Nielsen retail analytics associate director Nicola Voice said sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and cask white wines were not as popular as they once were.

"Shoppers are spending a smaller proportion of their total beverage dollars on drinks like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, cask white wine, carbonated soft drinks, cordials and syrups, instant coffee and tea compared to five years ago," Voice said.

"The four major consumer trends driving beverage growth globally and locally are convenience, premiumisation, a focus on health and wellness and consumer experimentation. Products that don't focus their product innovations in these areas are more likely to fall from favour with shoppers."

[People] are simply spending less on some of those traditional soft drinks and more on innovative lifestyle products.

Harford said consumers were no longer interested in regular drinks.

"Consumers are interested in new products coming on to the market and it also shows that supermarkets, and indeed 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."

This was evident with Lewis Road Creamery's chocolate milk collaboration with Whittaker's which set off a chocolate milk craze in 2014, and other flavoured milks now on the market, Harford said.

"There's a lot happening in that dairy space ... those products have become quite trendy and fashionable."