More than 79% of alcobev sales came from retail stores in 2023
premium products at house parties.
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According to latest data from global alcohol market analysts IWSR, 79.2% of alcobev volume sales in India last calendar year were 'off-premise', or outside bars and restaurants. While this share has come down from 82.4% in 2022, it is still higher than 72.5% during the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
With clubs, bars and restaurants closed, people drank at home during the Covid period and continued to socialise there after the initial relaxation of restrictions. This behaviour has stuck and one of the impacts of the pandemic was that a lot of people stopped seeing drinking at home as a taboo, say companies.
«The trend is here to stay as consumers realise that they can have better quality and premium drinks at a significantly lower price compared to bars. Also, they are now well versed with the cocktail mix even, and can replicate similar experience at home,» said Amar Sinha, chief operating officer at Radico Khaitan, which sells brands like Jaisalmer gin, Rampur whiskey and Magic Moments vodka.
In India, most liquor vends resembled a small rundown shack with a small grille, especially in smaller towns. However, in major metropolitan areas and some large cities, companies said, retail experience has become more relaxed with many liquor shops looking like supermarkets.
While bars and restaurants accounted for 27.5% of all liquor sold in the country in 2019, their share was about 40% in
