Cider overtakes RTDs in NZ with over half a million drinkers

Friday, 25 July 2014, 12:49 pm
Press Release: Roy Morgan Research

Cider overtakes RTDs in NZ with over half a million drinkers

The number of Kiwis drinking cider has almost tripled since 2010, when only 168,000 Kiwi adults (5.3%) drank cider in an average four weeks—far fewer than the 607,000 drinking ready-to-drink ‘alcopops’ (19.0%).

Now four years on, the number of us drinking cider has just passed the half-million mark and overtaken the number of RTD drinkers, the latest data from Roy Morgan Research shows.

501,000 Kiwis 18+ drank cider in an average four week period in the year to April 2014 (15.0%), slightly more than 499,000 drinking RTDs (14.9%).

New Zealanders drinking Cider and Pre-Mixed Spirits in an average four-week period:

Cider consumption has grown across all ages, genders and locations, but the sharpest increase has been among young women. In 2010, 5.3% of women aged 18-24 drank cider in an average four weeks, almost identical to the NZ rate. But today, a massive 28.5% of these young women drink cider—a more than fivefold increase.

Four years ago, 18-24 year-old men were already over twice as likely as the average Kiwi to drink cider, but their consumption has still grown from 10.9% to 18.4% in the year to April 2014.

The proportions of 25-34 year-old women and men drinking cider each almost quadrupled over the same period, from 6.4% to 24.5% and from 5.3% to 18.2%, respectively.

Australia has seen a markedly similar trend with the number drinking RTDs dropping by 250,000 between 2010 and 2014 and cider consumption tipping past two million, up from 596,000 four years ago.

Pip Elliott, General Manager – Roy Morgan Research New Zealand, says:

“The popularity of cider has sky-rocketed over the last five years, while consumption of so-called alcopops has declined—albeit at a less staggering rate.

“There has been a lot of political discussion over alcohol reforms during this period, specifically around RTDs and their alcohol content, size, packaging and marketing. Rather than legislate alcohol content and size maximums for RTDs, early last year the Government called on manufacturers to draw up and adopt a voluntary industry code.

“In Australia, an additional excise was introduced on RTDs and, indeed, some flavoured ciders, but their trends for both RTD and cider consumption are markedly similar to here.

“Using Roy Morgan’s revolutionary new profiling tool, Helix Personas, we can now delve even deeper into understanding consumption trends among different types of people.

“Cider marketers may be interested to learn that a massive 34% of individuals in the trendy urban Young and Platinumpersona drank cider in any given four weeks over the last two years, but those Doing it Tough and in Provincial Familiesstill overwhelmingly prefer RTDs.”

ends

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Roy Morgan Research

New Zealand's leading social and market research company

A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

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