BOOZE USE UP FOR FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS

Beer leads sales, but spirits make gains, data show

For the first time in 12 years, Canadians seem to be buying more alcoholic
beverages, according to figures released yesterday.

While over-all sales of beer, wine and spirits have declined in the last
decade, Statistics Canada recorded a slight increase in alcoholic beverage
sales last year.

Beer is still a bestseller, but spirits are becoming the alcoholic beverage
of choice for more thirsty Canadians, the report said.

Wine sales, meanwhile, remain strong, with a growing number of
health-conscious consumers opting for red wine, instead of white.

Sales of spirits, wine and beer reached $11.6 billion in the fiscal year
ended March 31, 1998, with beer sales accounting for more than half the
total.

Canadians bought an average of 99.2 litres of alcoholic drink for the fiscal
year. That included 5.7 litres of spirits, 10.7 litres of wine and 82.8
litres of beer. (For statistical reasons, StatsCan calculates per capita
sales based on Canadians aged 15 and older).

That's up from revised per capita sales of 98.9 litres for the year before.

Consumers buy more alcoholic drinks when they can afford to, said Chris
Layton of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Robust economic times leave
consumers with more pocket money.

Canadians bought a total of 138.3 million litres of spirits in the fiscal
year ended March 31, an increase of 6.3 per cent from the year before,
StatsCan said.

Domestic products accounted for three-quarters of that market. Imported
spirits, meanwhile, fell 3.2 per cent to 34.7 million litres, the report
said.

``Spirits-based drinks such as cocktails, and particularly the martini, have
come into vogue, so that's been a big factor'' in the spirits' growing
market share, Layton said.

Spirit-based coolers also enjoyed a surge in popularity and contributed to
the growth in spirit sales.

Canadians still buy more beer than any other alcoholic beverage - 2 billion
litres in the latest fiscal year, up 1.2 per cent from the previous year.

Sales of imported beer increased 12.1 per cent to 91.1 million litres. As a
result, the market share of domestic brands fell slightly to 95.5 per cent.

``As people generally become more knowledgable of products, they tend to
trade up to more premium-style products,'' Layton explained. ``The imported
beer category has benefited from that.''

Canadians also purchased more wine last year, with sales rising 2.9 per cent
to 259.9 million litres.

While consumers still prefer white wines, red wines are gaining ground.

White wines accounted for 46 per cent of the total Canadian market last
year, down from 56 per cent about five years ago.

Red wine sales, on the other hand, increased to 37 per cent from 26 per cent
over the same period.

Recent studies have linked moderate red wine consumption with a number of
health benefits, including lower cholesterol.