Booze consumption up in Canada - thanks to the women

TORONTO - Canadians are consuming 12percent more alcohol than they did a decade ago and some ascribe a large share of the rise to drinking habits of women.

The stepped up alcohol intake is believed to have been a result of numerous factors: a broader range of drinks that attracts women, better marketing strategies aimed at drawing both sexes, and boomers who are experimenting with more sophisticated ways to entertain.

Beer sales in Canada have been steady and according Statistics Canada usually men like beer.

But wine sales have almost tripled in some parts of the country.

Alan Middleton, a marketing expert at York University, said this rise in wine sales is caused by increased demand by women.

Prof. Middleton explained that as retailers expanded marketing campaigns for wine and mixed drinks over the last ten years, women took to drinking more of those beverages than going in for bitter beers and brown liquors.

“There was lousy product assortment in the nineties….In the last five years in the case of Nova Scotia, in the last three to four years in the case of PEI and New Brunswick, there has been a lot better selection of product,” the Globe and Mail quoted Rick Perkins, a spokesman for the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission, as saying.

He added: “Turning really miserable retailers that looked like you should cross yourself three times and feel guilty when you walked through the door into nice places was a success…. The LCBO is the perfect example of this. It’s now a fun place to go.”

Chris Layton, spokesman for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, said: “Any of the marketing programs will recommend food matches for products, will talk about the enjoyment of the products we sell in the context of entertaining…. It’s very much moving people in the direction of enjoyment and entertainment.” (ANI)