Could the luck of the Irish be with bev-alc producers this month?
Nearly one-third (32%) of consumers plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, according to consumer research firm Numerator.
These celebrations are “mostly spontaneous,” as more than three-quarters of revelers plan only one to two weeks in advance, Numerator found.
Consumers are split fairly evenly in how they plan to celebrate the holiday: 32% plan to gather with family and friends, 29% plan to cook and bake at home, and 28% plan to go out.
Nearly 60% of St. Patrick’s Day celebrators plan to purchase food for the occasion, and almost half (44%) told Numerator they plan to include alcohol.
Of those including bev-alc products in their parties, 61% plan to buy beer, and 44% of those people plan to buy Irish beer brands specifically, including Diageo-owned Guinness and Smithwick’s, Numerator said.
Celebratory plans vary by generation. Nearly 40% of Boomers and older generations plan to cook or bake at home, while an almost equal number (37%) of Generation Z consumers plan to go out for drinks. And Gen Z isn’t just content to have a Guinness or a green-dyed light lager – 30% of them plan to “purchase apparel or costumes for the holiday,” according to Numerator. Only 16% of other generations plan to do the same.
To procure necessary items for their St. Patrick’s Day parties, 47% of respondents plan to visit grocery stores, followed by big box stores (38%) and liquor stores (28%). Two-thirds of revelers said they plan to spend as much money on the holiday as they did last year, with most people planning to spend between $25 and $50, according to Numerator.
According to CGA, NIQ’s on-premise data arm, one-in-three survey respondents plan to visit a bar, restaurant or other venue for St. Patrick’s Day. Sports bars, Irish pubs and neighborhood bars are the top three intended types of establishments.
“There is a clear appetite for ‘featured drinks’ aligned to the day,” CGA regional director for the Americas Matt Crompton wrote.
St. Patrick’s Day was the sixth most valuable Friday in 2023, with nationwide on-premise sales velocity increasing +6% compared to the average Friday, according to CGA. Drinking venues drove growth, with a +38% increase, compared to a “slight” increase in velocity at eating venues.
Last year, off-premise bev-alc spending reached $3.2 billion during the two weeks ending March 18, according to market research firm NIQ. This marked a +0.7% increase in dollar sales over 2022.
The beer category – in which NIQ includes cider, flavored malt beverages (FMBs) and sugar- or malt-based hard seltzers – accounted for the bulk of sales, with $1.7 billion, ahead of spirits (roughly $800 million) and wine (roughly $700 million).
Both the beer and spirits categories have held dollar sales for the holiday steady, while wine sold about $800 million in 2021 before dropping to $700 million 2022, where it stayed in 2023.
In terms of year-over-year (YoY) dollar sales growth, spirits led with a +1.8% increase, followed by beer (+1.3%). Both gains were offset by wine, which recorded a -2.1% decline. Ready-to-drink beverages, which can include spirits-based cocktails and hard seltzers, increased +5.5%.
The convenience channel led growth, with a +3.7% increase in bev-alc dollar sales. All other channels declined, including grocery (-0.3%), liquor (-2.2%) and drug (-6.3%), according to NIQ.
In absolute dollars, table wine was the top-selling segment across categories in 2023, with dollar sales of $568 million, followed by domestic premium beer ($441 million), imported beer ($389 million), whiskey ($288 million), below premium beer ($201 million), craft beer ($196 million), super premium beer ($175 million), vodka ($161 million), FMBs ($148 million) and hard seltzers ($124 million).
It’s worth noting that St. Patrick’s Day occurred weeks before the start of a conservative-led boycott of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light protesting the brand’s inclusion of a transgender woman content creator in an influencer campaign. Those boycotts diverted millions of dollars away from the domestic premium segment.
As it has throughout the rest of the year, non-alcoholic beer outperformed the category in 2023, with dollar sales gains of +33.8% on St. Patrick’s Day compared to the holiday in 2022, according to NIQ. Other substyles that over-indexed during the focus period include cream cordials (+13.7%), stouts (+7.1%), Irish whiskey (+3.7%) and amber lager (+2.6%).