World Cup to boost British food and drink sales
The main gains will be seen in sales of food and drink for home consumption, predicted research organisation Conlumino, engaged by Webloyalty to research the impact of the tournament.
Watching matches at home was the most popular option, favoured by 94% of respondents. Less than a quarter (23%) of fans planned to watch games in the pub.
“The lion’s share of food and drink spending is likely to be for at home – with a spend of about £201M compared with out of home spending reaching about £69M,” a spokesman for Webloyalty told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
‘Deters people from eating out’
“This is partly because of the timing of some of the games is quite late, which deters people from eating and drinking out,” he added. Also, many football fans prefer to watch the matches at home, revealed the research.
The top choice for world cup TV dinners was likely to be pizza.
Fans are expected to spend £37M on snacks to eat at home and £95M on alcohol for home consumption.
Guy Chiswick, md Webloyalty Northern Europe, said: “With so many fans planning to watch the games from home this year, spending on food and drink to entertain friends will be a common priority; and some may take the opportunity to splash out on expensive devices to watch the football on.
“Supermarkets and electronics retailers can therefore expect to cash in on football fever this year.”
Meanwhile, 99% of respondents think the Football Association’s pricing of replica football shirts is unacceptable. The retail sector will only see an average spend of £16 per head as a result of the tournament, according to the research.
“The UK retail and leisure sector risks suffering as a result of the low levels of enthusiasm among Brits about the upcoming World Cup, with only just over half of the population planning to follow the games at all, compared with the three-quarters that tuned in for the 2010 games,” said Webloyalty.
About 18% of those polled admitted to being ‘footy refuseniks’ and said they planned to completely avoid the World Cup.
More information about the research is available here.
An infographic capturing the key trends revealed in the research is available below.
Meanwhile, Tesco reported its sales campaign ‘Operation Brazil’ was already boosting high street retail sales.
“While party food and beer sales are set to rocket during the course of the tournament in Brazil demand for giant TVs, Brazilian snacks and collectable Panini World Cup stickers are already soaring,” said the retailer.
Brazilian snacks and drinks
So far, demand for widescreen TVs has almost doubled, while sales of Brazilian snacks and drinks has risen by 40%.
Tesco beer category spokeswoman Natasha Pitman said: “The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet and will create a month long carnival-like atmosphere for millions of football fans at home, which is why we’ve set up a massive operation to ensure stores are fully stocked at all times.
“We know from previous tournaments that on days when England play demand for beer, pizzas, and other snacks rockets and continues to rise with each successive round.
“Ready meals and pizzas are in high demand during the tournament as football fans don’t want to fuss around too much in the kitchen before a game starts.”
Tesco predicted beer sales would soar by at least 100%, BBQ and snacks, such as crisps, tortillas and nuts, by 25% and pizzas by 15%.
Brazil 2014 begins on Thursday June 12 in Sao Paulo, when host Brazil face Croatia.
