Every UK newspaper was filled with scaremongering headlines yesterday about the British drinking too much ‘by stealth’. A new report published by Mintel has brought the topic of alcohol levels to the public eye but as a member of the drinks industry it’s like claiming the world is round is a new revelation- and newsworthy.
The Telegraph reported along the same lines as every other broadsheet and tabloid: ‘Middle-class Britons are drinking too much “by stealth†because they consume alcohol more frequently than other groups and the wine they enjoy is getting stronger’.
The papers were taking their information from Jonny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst at Mintel who, said in a press release, ‘In the 1970s a bottle of wine may have been around 11% in ABV and now the same bottle is more likely to be around 13%.’ What a revelation. I think I’ll take up writing reports and charging.
Forsyth added, ‘It may be that the majority of consumers are not aware of ABV and don’t even notice. So despite a greater societal concern with being healthy leading to a decline in drinking penetration, by stealth we are drinking more pure alcohol than ever.’
Now what’s all this about stealth? I appreciate they probably mean unknowingly but the dictionary describes stealth as cunning or underhand procedure and if you do a search in the thesaurus you’ll find its synonyms are slyness, sneakiness or furtiveness. But who’s being sneaky here? The drinks industry? If it is the industry he’s pointing the finger at for producing drinks higher in alcohol and not being open about it, then I have to take issue with him.
Admittedly alcohol levels in wine have risen, as he describes, thanks in part to better techniques in the vineyard, more efficient yeasts in the winery, possibly global warming and a fashion to leave grapes on the vine for longer to get phenolic ripeness (meaning seed and skin ripeness as well as sugar ripeness). But it’s not like we’ve hidden it – read the label!
Lower alcohol wines are still low on the list of priorities for consumers if you look at Wine Intelligence research. The wine industry is innovating to create lower alcohol wines with earlier picking and alcohol removal technologies amongst other things but demand is still low – perhaps from a lack of awareness of how many units we’re drinking. The industry is getting together to consider the potential of the low alcohol category in October. The public will be a long way behind.
