Spirits sales took a battering from Coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020, particularly in the on-trade, where closures and restrictions placed a dampener on this channel’s performance. While Latin American countries tended to see better performances in the off-trade, even here sales were negatively affected by the pandemic’s economic impact. Positive annual growth rates are expected over the forecast period, although sales will not return to pre-pandemic levels before the end of 2020-2025.
This report comes in PPT.
In the years prior to 2020, falling sales in recession-hit Argentina were having a negative impact on the regional performance. With Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela also seeing declining sales in 2019, this tipped the Latin American performance into decline in this year, compared to the stagnation seen in 2018.
On-trade sales collapsed in 2020 with the arrival of COVID-19 in the region. With on-trade outlets closed or facing shorter opening hours and other restrictions for extended periods, this naturally hit sales through these establishments. While some on-trade drinking may have moved into people’s homes via the off-trade, even off-trade sales will have been impacted by the economic consequences of the measures implemented to try and contain the spread of COVID-19.
E-commerce saw explosive growth in a number of countries during the pandemic, including Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. With consumers forced to stay at home during lockdowns, following social distancing measures and trying to minimise time spent outside their own households, home delivery sales soared. The main alcoholic drinks producers and modern grocery retailers enhanced their e-commerce platforms and improved their logistics, with e-commerce seen as an ideal way to reach existing consumers as well as attract new customers.
A relatively strong rebound is expected for spirits sales in 2021, with positive annual growth rates throughout the forecast period. The on-trade will be particularly dynamic in the immediate post-2020 period, not least because it has so much ground to make up from its lost sales during the pandemic. However, having lost so much ground in 2019 and 2020, sales are not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in Latin American spirits before the end of the forecast period.
Alcoholic drinks is the aggregation of beer, wine, spirits, cider/perry and RTDs.
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