Initially, the “American bars” were located in the hotels and it took about ten years for their presence to be felt outside, and for this reason the subsequent period, i.e. 1965-1975, is also the one that led to the formation of new drinking preferences of the Greeks, from cognac to whiskey.
Scenes from Greek films are typical, in which brands such as Vat 69 or White Horse play in the buffets of Athenian townhouses, but also in the bars of the Xenia hotels, New Money wrote.
Since the dawn of the 2000s, whiskey has seemed to be the dominant choice for those looking to drink. Also characteristic are the data obtained from a statistical study by the Market Analysis company, which shows alcohol trends for the period January-August 2003 throughout Greece.
They do not differ significantly from their analogues in 2002. First in the preferences of the public is whiskey, which in stores shows a consumption of up to 28.3%.
In second place are imported beers with a percentage of 18.7%, followed by the consumption of Ready To Drink (ready to drink cocktails) with a percentage that reaches 17.5%.
This is the time when Johnnie Walker adverts with the slogan ‘Keep on going’ appear on radio, television, cinema and billboards, but also in newspaper and magazine ads.
At the same time, data from World Drinks Trends 2003 ranks Greece in 19th place in the world ranking, with the annual consumption of pure alcohol per capita reaching the corresponding percentage of 7.9 liters.
The Greeks and whiskey consumption
Many things have changed since then, but not the Greek public’s preferences for whiskey, which has taken the lead in its choice of alcohol.
If we take into account the report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012, we will find that there is a stabilization of alcohol consumption in our country from the beginning of the 2000s to 2010.
In fact, processing the data from the report found that Greece is roughly at the European average, ranking 28th out of 53 European countries, with whiskey being the number one choice for its residents and visitors.
Of course, in terms of per capita consumption, the Greeks have always been at the forefront.
In the years of the pandemic
In recent years, whiskey sales seem to have passed the reach of the pandemic, which has imposed heavy restrictions on entertainment due to bans and ongoing lockdowns. At the same time, Fact.MR gave an impressive forecast for the global whiskey market, predicting annual growth of 5.6% until 2027.
The same report estimates that whiskey revenue is expected to double between 2021 and 2031, approaching an astronomical $108 billion.
A report by IRI Hellas has arrived in our country to present the data collected by the organized retail trade, both in mainland Greece and Crete, according to which alcoholic beverages have increased their turnover by 17.26% compared to 2020. , while during the same period there was a growth of 19.21% in terms of sales volume.
Whiskey retained its leadership role during this period as well, making up the largest category of alcoholic beverages. The total turnover reached EUR 65.13 million, marking a growth of 14.6% compared to the previous year.
The IRI Hellas report showed that demand growth was strong in all regions, with Northern Greece registering a growth rate of 19.8%, Crete 18.3% and Central Greece 15.4%.
In terms of consumption, this also has a noticeable growth, especially in large supermarkets (over 2500 sq m) with +18.1% compared to 2020, while the rest of the stores are moving at levels between 11.5% – 14.9 %.
The exponential rate of growth of the turnover of whiskey in our country is indicative of its commercial dynamics, after we reached from 52.73 million euros in 2018 to 51.42 million euros in 2019 and from there to 57.34 million. EUR for 2020 before reaching the amount of EUR 65.13 million as mentioned above.
Of course, in all this consumption, the role of tourists is important, who in the summer “disappear” the more expensive and rarer so-called premium brands.
The major alcoholic beverage companies in Greece
Large turnovers also include large alcoholic beverage companies.
In fact, Diageo Hellas in the last financial year of the same year (1/7/2020 – 30/6/2021) showed sales of 50 million euros from 49.8 million euros a year earlier, while managing to increase its net profits tenfold, which exceeds €2.44 million from €234,873 in the previous period.
Accordingly, in 2021 the Karoulias company had total revenues of 49.3 million euros and the AMBYX company also showed sales that showed an increase of +12% and amounted to 98 million euros.
This compares to 87.3 million euros for 2020, covering any significant deficits in the industry due to the impact of the pandemic on domestic and global production.
Whiskey as an investment
At the same time, there are increasing reports of evidence proving that whiskey is the king of investment, as on a 12-month basis the Rare Single Malt Index has returned 40%, followed by currencies (12), wine (9%), works of art (9%), watches (5%) and cars (2%).
If we even interpret the numbers over a 10-year period, we would be surprised to find that whiskey outperforms by a huge percentage, as the return reaches 582%, while for cars it is 258% and for works of art 158%.
READ MORE: The Cubano in Sifnos: Che Guevara’s bar-museum that ONLY serves rum.
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