One more survey finds wine – just like household cleaning products – has played a key role during the pandemic
Yet another more pandemic study says we’re cooking more at home and we want wine with our dinner – and we want it more than spirits and seltzer.
That’s just one of the findings in last month’s household grocery spending survey by NCSolutions, a marketing consultancy for the consumer packaged goods business. Its analysis of 12 months of proprietary data, as well as a March consumer survey, suggests that a variety of consumer behavior has changed over the past year, and that these changes might last.
And that includes wine with dinner.
In this, the NCSolutions’ methodology seems legitimate (though its PR company never set up an interview, despite repeated assurance it would do so), so I can’t vouch for the results. I also wasn’t able to find out if the survey asked about wine specifically, or just lumped it in with beer and spirits.
Still, that it found the same thing as other studies speaks to what may be important changes in the way consumers see wine. For example:
• We spent 23 percent more on wine, beer, and spirits between March 2020 and February 2021 than we did in the previous 12 months. That’s consistent with other surveys; equally as important, it’s about the same increase as fresh produce, and bigger than soft drinks and coffee.
• Tie that into the fact that almost half of those surveyed said they were cooking more at home over the last year, and a pattern starts to emerge.
• Plus, about two in five said they “enjoyed more meals and beverages at home,” second only to those who said they watched TV and movies to get away from the stress of the pandemic. That was about 10 points higher than those who said they ordered takeout to relax.
• And almost one-quarter said they needed to have wine and beer in the house.
The only bad news? That just one-third said they planned to eat more at restaurants this spring and summer, as life becomes more normal, and less than half said they would travel. Those aren’t promising numbers for anyone who expects winery tourism and restaurant wine sales to pick up later this year.
Finally, for anyone wondering if cleaning house will remain important: 96 percent – yes, almost everyone – said they spend the same or more time cleaning than they did before.
Graphic: NCSolutions. using a Creative Commons license