MARKET MONITOR A graphic guide to the off-trade
Why aren't people drinking in pubs?
Forty-five per cent of drinkers prefer to drink at home, reveals an independent survey commissioned by the Campaign for Real Ale . Of those, 27% said it was because they preferred drinking cheap supermarket alcohol. That
is a big chunk, and supermarket pricing is a big issue. But the headline-grabbing row does not take into account the other 73% of people who prefer drinking at home.
Twenty-nine per cent have family commitments; 19% don't want to go to pubs for health or other reasons; 7% just prefer being at home, and 12% simply don't like pubs. Politicians and the media like to portray the off-trade as a market targeted at children, binge -drinkers and alcoholics. Maybe it is time they started taking notice of the vast majority of people who want to drink at home just because they prefer it there.
