Six big differences in drinking out in Ireland, France and US

As the on-trade builds back from Covid around the world, it’s crucial for drinks suppliers to understand the nuances between territories, believes market researcher CGA, which recently provided six examples of how three markets —  Ireland, France and the US— vary significantly in their on-trade product demands. 

Saturation

CGA’s data indicates that France has the most densely-populated on-trade with one outlet every 1.8 square miles. At one for every 13.1 square miles, the US has a much wider spread — ‘though this number is diluted because of the large swathes of the country that are unpopulated.

With a total of just under 10,000 sites, Ireland sits between France and the US with one outlet every 2.8 square miles.

Vodka

Vodka is Ireland’s most popular spirit by some distance, with a 28.0% share of the category. This is double Vodka’s share in France (14.1%) and nearly three percentage points ahead of the US (25.3%).

Gin

Ireland also over-indexes on Gin which takes a 17.7% share of spirits sales here. It’s much higher than both France (4.9%) and the US (3.8%), where Gin is far less embedded in the on-trade.

Tequila

What gin is to Ireland, Tequila is to the US where it has a 17.8% share of the spirits market, exponentially higher than in France (1.7%) and Ireland (1.4%) – ‘though CGA data also indicate that Tequila is starting to penetrate European markets.

Liqueurs and specialities

While Tequila and Gin lead the way in the US and Ireland, France’s on-trade is dominated by liqueurs and specialities (mainly comprising aperitif-based drinks). Nearly half (45.3%) of France’s total spirits sales come from this category — more than twice the share in Ireland (20.7%) and triple that of the US (13.6%).

Cider

As with Gin, Cider has far greater visibility in Ireland’s on-trade than either the US or France. It accounts for 9.0% of sales in the Long Alcoholic Drinks category compared to just 1.4% and 1.6% in the US and France respectively.

“These wide variations show why it’s so important to understand consumer dynamics from territory to territory,” says Sian Brennan, CGA’s Client Director for Ireland, “Drinks, brands and promotional activity that fly in Ireland, France or the US may fall flat in the other two markets because each of the three has a unique heritage and preferences.

“Here and around the world, global suppliers need to understand local habits and carefully tailor strategies to get ahead of the game.”