In perhaps the least surprising turn of events since England went out on penalties, IRI can reveal that sales of beer increased during the recent European Football Championships.
Unlike the World Cup in Japan and Korea two years ago when many of the matches were played at breakfast time in the UK, the kick off times in Portugal were early or mid-evening. While this undoubtedly increased the potential for alcohol sales, it also meant that people could also choose to watch games, especially those involving England, in the big match atmosphere of a pub or bar.
As the chart showing beer sales for the four weeks of the tournament indicates, sales peaked in the week that England played France and Switzerland. Sales for the following week returned to a more regular level, either because they had stocked up the previous week or decided to watch the matches against Croatia and Portugal in a public place.
Beer sales during Euro 2004 vs same period last year
Other categories that typically perform strongly during these sporting occasions, conspicuously failed to do so. Sales of crisps, snacks and nuts were the epitome of stability and in fact at a lower level than during the same period in 2003. The fine weather had a mixed and inconclusive effect on the barbecue market, with lamb sales up but sausages down versus a year ago. It could be that many of the traditionally strong summer categories were discounted so heavily to encourage footfall and purchasing of non-food categories, that in value terms at least the markets suffered.
Using retailer specific databases, IRI can provide sales and share data, growth figures, average number of lines, product prices and many more measures for all the major supermarkets. To find out more about how your retailer or products fared during Euro 2004 or for any seasonal or promotional period, please contact your account representative or call +44 (0)1344 746000.