Wine bucks trend with demand for beer flat

WINE was the big winner in the Irish drinks market last year as new figures from the drinks industry showed demand for beer was flat during 2004.

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), which includes brewers, distillers, publicans and wine distributors, said overall alcohol consumption was a “modest” 1% higher in 2004 than in the previous year, when measured per head. But demand for alcohol was still lower than the figure recorded in 2000.

DIGI research, based on figures from the Revenue Commissioners and the Central Statistics Office, found wine had bucked the overall trend during 2004 and saw its share of the alcohol market shoot up from less than 17% to 19.3%.