Interestingly, despite problems in the global economy, market analysts are forecasting a solid global growth in the industry’s income for the next three years.

It is estimated that the financial crisis is likely to help volume growth but slow value growth, as consumers will be more willing to purchase cheaper alcohol and consume it at home.

Trends in alcohol consumption for the forthcoming years

• Wine consumption will continue to grow at a steady pace in Western Europe
• Sales volumes in beer are expected to increase especially in Asia (55 per cent of total volume growth) Central and South America (19.5 per cent of total volume growth) Eastern Europe (19.5 per cent of total volume growth)
• Poland, Ukraine and Romania will see a substantial growth in beer consumption, with Romania’s consumption likely to be one of the highest in Europe
• Steady growth in the sales of the ready to drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages Spirits market will rise substantially with almost 70 per cent of this increase coming from Asia – Pacific and almost third from India.

Furthermore, consolidation of the alcohol industry is expected to continue. The emergence of three mega – brewers (Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller and Heineken) has resulted in two of these companies being in the top three brewers of every region in the world.

This trend is particularly strong in emerging markets such as Botswana, Tanzania and Ghana.

Trends in product development

• The most pronounced trend is the development of “healthy products”, or drinks with functional benefits (although there are now legal limitations in the EU on health claims). These are mixes of alcohol and health-related ingredients.
• “Upscale” was the most common product tag on beer and wine products launched worldwide 2008, followed by the recyclable packaging and organic tags.
• There is an upward trend to use personal-size bottles of wine, RTD and liqueur to attract younger consumers and increase the number of drinking occasions.
• Rose wines are getting back in fashion, especially among young women
• A number of spirits products targeted at young women have been launched

Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, said: ‘We are particularly alarmed by the aggressive marketing strategies the industry is using in the developing countries. Nations with weak economies and new, unstable democracies are poorly equipped to deal with the problems caused by alcohol. We are as well concerned about the inclusion of health-enhancing ingredients in alcoholic beverages that the industry uses to market them as healthy products. We fear this can lead consumers to get the feeling that they are drinking something healthy and that they should drink more of it".

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[1] This report has been prepared by Anders Ulstein (member of the Board) on behalf of Eurocare using the Business Insights 2008/9 reports.