Friday 14th March 2008

Supermarkets link a sporting weekend and St. Patrick’s Day with binge drinking in the home, say alcohol charity

The Institute of Alcohol Studies strongly condemns supermarkets for continuing to sell and promote alcohol in an irresponsible manner.  As we enter a weekend of major sporting events and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, supermarkets have been promoting cut-price alcohol that encourages binge drinking.

Russell Bennetts, an economic research officer at the IAS, said, “Supermarkets claim that cut-price alcohol brought from their stores is consumed over a long period of time and in a responsible manner.  However, they are hypocritical to say this while they continue to advertise cheap alcohol in relation to specific events. 

“The Competition Commission have found that five leading grocery retailers sold £38.6 million worth of alcohol at below-cost during the 2006 World Cup. Supermarkets know full well that drinks promotions linked to such events entice consumers to buy more alcohol and to drink more alcohol. To claim otherwise is disingenuous.

“Supermarkets are not truly interested in saving the consumer money or in ensuring their customers remain healthy.  They are aware that alcohol is a more price responsive product than milk.  This is why they choose to use alcohol as a loss-leader. In fact, the Office of Fair Trading has claimed that the leading four supermarkets colluded to keep the prices of milk, cheese and butter artificially high.”

A Sainsbury’s radio advertisement widely broadcast this morning offered cut price Guinness in the lead up to a weekend of rugby matches and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. This appears to be part of a continuing trend for supermarkets claiming sporting and other events as a reason to drink at home.  Tesco have continued to advertise cut-price alcohol even after claiming that they wish to halt such behaviour.

 Ends

 Contact details:

 Russell Bennetts                     

Tel: 0207 222 4001
Email: rbennetts@ias.org.uk