Chilean wine

A third of Brits have confessed to drinking at home alone, and almost one in six to polishing off a whole bottle of wine to themselves, in an exclusive poll for The Grocer.

Brits aged from 25 to 34 are most likely to down a bottle of wine themselves, with 20% of the age group admitting they did so in the Harris Interactive poll of more than 2,000 consumers.

This means one in five 25 to 34-year-olds is knocking back about 10 units of alcohol in one sitting, way above the recommended daily ­maximum of two to three units for women, or three to four for men.

Across all age groups, women are slightly more likely to drink a bottle of wine to themselves than men (at 16% vs 14%).

But the roles were reversed when consumers were asked if they drink alone, with a sobering 43% of men confessing to drinking by themselves at home, compared with 26% of women. Across the entire poll, 34% said they drank alone.

Despite such confessions, almost half (49.2%) the consumers polled claimed they wanted to cut back on drinking. However, growing alcohol sales - value sales have risen 3.3% year on year to £11.6bn on a 1.3% volume increase [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 20 July 2014] - suggests many aren’t doing so.

The research was carried out for the latest in a series of digital features accessible only through The Grocer’s website.

For the full survey results and more insights into the alcoholic drinks market - including suggestions by a leading branding agency on how sherry could be reinvented for the 21st century consumer - visit thegrocer.co.uk/reports/digital-features/.