CANADA: Wine steals market share from beer - figures

(Just-Drinks) - The wine category continued to grow its market share in Canada last year as sales outpaced a flat beer market, latest official figures have revealed.

Sales of wine in wineries, liquor stores and agencies in the 12 months to the end of March rose by 4.9% to CAD6.8bn (US$6.2bn), government agency Statisitics Canada reported yesterday (10 April). Wine volumes also grew by 3.9% on the prior year to 506.6m litres, while imported volumes (+4.3%) outpaced domestic varieties (+3.3%).

Beer sales in beer, liquor stores and agencies in Canada over the 12 months were flat at CAD9.1bn, with volumes slipping by 1.7% to 2.3bn litres. Domestic beer volumes fell by 1.7% to 2bn litres, but imported beer fared worse, down 3.8% to 0.3bn litres.

Beer retained its market share, but dropped to 43% of the country's total alcohol sales, while wine increased its share to 32%.

Spirits, whose market share stayed flat at 25%, saw category sales increase by 2.9% to CAD5.4bn. Growth was helped by a strong performance from liqueurs (+9.5%), rum (+4.1%) and vodka (+3.9%).

Total spirits category volumes rose 2.7%  to 222.4m litres. Domestic spirits volumes climbed by 2.2% to 148m litres, while imported spirits outpaced Canadian-produced offerings, up 3.8%. Imports now account for a third of the market share of spirits in Canada.