Wine and premium alcohol brands least hit by Scots minimum pricing

Wine and premium alcohol brands are poised to be ‘the big winners’ when minimum alcohol pricing legislation is introduced in Scotland.

Spirits will be the most impacted as 69% of volume currently sold is below the 50p per unit threshold, according to new research by Nielsen that analysed till sales (EPoS data) in nearly 1,200 stores in Scotland.

Beer, it said, would be the next most impacted (67% of volume is below the threshold) followed by cider (51%), compared with only 3.4% of wine sales, the survey revealed.

When looking at the top 50 selling products in each category, instead of total volume sales, 76% of the most popular spirits don’t meet minimum pricing compared with 74% in beer, 54% in cider and 12% in wine.

“Wine is, by far, the least impacted and so has the most to gain from minimum pricing,” said Marika Praticó, senior client manager at Nielsen.

“Overall, wine will need to raise prices by the least amount, thus it becomes more affordable relative to other alcohol,” she said.

As with wine, premium brands - particularly in spirits, were likely to benefit as the price difference between them and cheaper brands would diminish, making it a good time for shoppers to trade up, said Praticó.

She said minimum pricing would have a “negative impact” on own-label sales as a result of shoppers trading up.

Blended Scotch and vodka would be the two categories impacted most by minimum pricing legislation. Blended Scotch, overall, would require prices to rise 20% to meet the threshold, with a 16.3% increase necessary for vodka.

Last month, Scotland’s health minister Shona Robison said the minimum pricing of alcohol would be brought in “as soon as possible”.

The pledge followed a landmark ruling in Scotland’s Court of Session, where a challenge by the Scotch whisky industry, which claimed the plans were a breach of European law, was rejected.

The policy, which will set a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol, taking a standard 70cl bottle of spirits to at least £14, was passed by MSPs three years ago.