Recently, the sale of new mild wines and strong beers in grocery stores has attracted the attention of customers. According to Kesko, sales have surpassed expectations, while the S group is still assessing their popularity. The law change that allows for the sale of alcoholic drinks with up to eight percent strength in grocery stores took effect recently and contributed to an increase in sales of these products.
Kesko estimates that the market for low-alcohol content alcoholic beverages in Finland is worth around 15 million euros and predicts significant growth potential in this area. The S group has observed that white wines and stronger lager beers have been particularly popular among their customers. However, both groups caution against jumping to conclusions about the long-term trend of these new products’ sales.
The two-week sales period coincided with Midsummer week, which typically sees a spike in alcohol sales compared to a normal week. During Midsummer, sparkling wines were more popular with the S group, while white wines remained the best-selling category overall. Both retail groups are closely monitoring sales patterns for mild wines and strong beers to evaluate their impact on their businesses fully.
Before the law change, it was expected that smaller stores without Alko outlets would benefit from selling mild wines in grocery stores. The S group noted that stronger alcohol products sold best in units with higher grocery sales volumes. Both groups are waiting for additional data before analyzing location-specific differences and trends in consumer behavior related to these new products’ popularity.
