Liquor sales shoot up in Q1 as Greeks bring the bar home

Rum, wine, whisky and beer saw the biggest rise in sales at Greece’s supermarkets in the first quarter of the year, a development attributed to the prolonged shutdown of bars and restaurants this year compared to last.

According to figures published by research firm Nielsen IQ on Monday, supermarkets sales in Q1 rose 67.7 percent for rum, 49.1% for wine, 43.6% for whisky and 27.3% for beer.

Hair-removal products and hair dyes were the next big gainers at 25.1% and 22% respectively, pointing to the closure of hair and beauty salons as a driving factor.

The lockdown on restaurants, meanwhile, is seen driving the 47.5% spike in oven cleaner sales and the rise of 28.4% in purchases of baking paper.

Overall, supermarkets of over 100 square meters saw their turnover rise by 1.9 percent in the first three months of this year compared to 2020, with personal care products being the leaders in terms of categories at 8.9%, followed by household products at 7.4% and food and beverages at 4.2%, Nielsen IQ reported.

Greece’s supermarkets saw an exponential rise in turnover in the first quarter of last year that was mainly driven by antiseptic and cleaning product sales at the start of the pandemic, while the first big nationwide lockdown started in mid-March 2020.

Source: ekathimerini.com