The Scottish Government’s pre-Christmas move to lower the permissible alcohol limit for driving has changed the way we view drink driving, but has the move changed the shopping habits of wine and beer buyers?
Donna Morgan: Best-one at Brownlies
I haven’t noticed much of an increase in sales of low alcohol products, but we’ve started stocking a number of zero alcohol wines, and we’re hoping they’ll do well. I would say though, we do a number of outside functions and there’s definitely been a change there where people who would have had one drink and drove home now don’t touch it. A few brands like Torres have launched what they call ‘dealcoholised’ wines. We’ll be pushing these products and they do come with a better margin than wine.
Omar Nasir: Spar retailer
We’ve always stocked a range of low alcohol and alcohol free beer and wine since we got our licence, but I can’t say I’ve noticed any increase in sales since the law changed. We don’t sell many but they’re worth stocking. One major difference since the law changed though is that we’ve started selling breathalyser kits – they work similar to those the police use and have good accuracy. We’re selling them at £3.99 and they’ve been flying out the door. It gives us a great margin of around 40%, so we’ll definitely be ordering more.
Scott Graham: McLeish Inverurie
I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference in sales in that area, but we only carry one line – Beck’s Blue. I do think it’s something worth experimenting with though, so I’d certainly consider getting in a few extra alcohol free beers and some low alcohol wine. One thing that I’ve noticed is an increase in sales of four-packs at the expense of larger packs. That’s guys maybe watching the football who have to drive the next morning being a bit more careful; it’s something that we’ll see more of.
David Mitchell: KeyStore Broadloan
Definitely on the wine, we didn’t stock it regularly, but we always get a case of red and white in for Christmas. This year I had to re-order it on a number of occasions. In the end we sold four cases of red and two of white – normally we’re lucky if we sell two bottles and it’ll be sitting there come February. I was shocked at how quick it went out the door, and given we never sell more than a couple of bottles it must be linked to the change in law. We’re stocking it permanently now.
