Beverage preference patterns and stability across different countries

beer, wine, spirits and other types of beverages. In 2011 the WHO reported that in Asian and eastern European countries spirits are the most consumed beverage type in terms of litres (L) of pure alcohol. Globally, more than 45% of people consume alcohol in the form of spirits, predominately in the South-East Asian (71%) and Western Pacific (54%) regions, with African regions having the lowest (12%). It is estimated that 36%

of people globally consume alcohol in the form of beer; with the highest quantity of beer being consumed in the United States (54.7%).

Within England, data from the Health Survey for England (HSE) in 2012, which provides data on the types of drink consumed on the day of maximum alcohol consumption in the last week, reported that; 62% of men drank normal strength beer, lager, shandy or cider; 33% had consumed wine; and 22% had drunk spirits. In contrast;

64% of women had drunk wine; 26% had drunk spirits; and 19% had drunk normal strength beer, lager, shandy or cider. Spirit consumption was most common among those aged between 16 and 34 years old and among men aged 75 years and over. The proportions of men and women consuming wine increased with age. Two per cent of both men and women had drunk alcopops (defined by ONS as flavoured alcoholic drinks and pre-mixed spirits, 2009), but these were most likely to be aged 16 to 24 years old (14% of young men and 10% young women) (Lifestyle Statistics, 2015).

An earlier report by The Omnibus Survey in 2009, which reports on the average weekly alcohol consumption of specific beverage types in Great Britain reported that beer was the most popular drink among men of all ages (47% normal strength beer), followed by wine (25%), and spirits (12%). For women wine was the most popular choice of

beverage (57%), followed by spirits (16%), beer (15%), alcopops (16%), and strong beer or cider (4%) (see Table 1.1). The amount of spirits as a proportion of men's total consumption was highest among those aged 16 to 24 years and 65 years and over, and among women aged 16 to 24 years, with spirits and wine being the most popular drink

Table 1.1

Average weekly alcohol consumption in percentage of different types of drink in Great Britain: split by gender and age, 2009

Source: Drinking: Adults Behaviour and knowledge in 2009. Opinions Survey, Office of National Statistics (ONS, 2009) Men

Age (years)

Women Age (years)

16-24 25-44 45-64 65+ Total 16-24 25-44 45-64 65+ Total

Strong beer, lager and cider

23 10 12 8 13 11 4 3 3 4

Normal strength beer, lager and cider

45 54 46 35 47 12 18 17 9 15

Spirits 19 9 8 18 12 37 16 8 15 16

Fortified wine 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 9 2

Wine 4 25 32 35 25 22 58 70 63 57

Alcopops 8 1 1 2 2 16 3 1 0 4

From a European perspective, wine is the most consumed beverage type with 26.4 % recorded adult per capita consumption. In Spain beer is currently the most consumed beverage in litres of pure alcohol and in Sweden it is wine. Worldwide, spirits account for 45% of total recorded alcohol consumed and approximately 36% is consumed in the form of beer (WHO, 2011). A further study by Mäkelä et al. (2006) found differences in both the frequency (see Table 1.2) and quantities (see Table 1.3) of beverage preferences across 14 countries in Europe. It is worth noting that only the overall alcohol frequency was reported in the UK, as beverage specific frequencies were not available. France and Switzerland had the highest frequencies of wine drinking, whilst Northern Europe and the Czech Republic had the lowest. Men in Northern Europe consumed beer in the highest frequency. The highest frequency of spirit consumption was reported among men in France, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Norway. For beer the largest quantity was consumed by men in Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany and Switzerland; French men drank wine in the highest quantity and Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic men drank the highest quantity of spirits. Among women, wine was reported as being consumed in the largest

quantity in Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and France. Overall, men consumed beer and spirits more often and in higher amounts and wine was reported at a similar rate among men and women, however males in France reported a higher quantity when wine was consumed. See Table 1.2 and 1.3.

Table 1.2

Mean frequency of drinking in Europe (times per year) by beverage type

Source: Drinking patterns and their gender differences in Europe (Mäkelä et al., 2006)

Men Women

Beer Wine Spirits Beer Wine Spirits

Sweden 26 27 18 8 32 8

Czech Republic 112 23 28 27 27 12

Germany 114 41 21 32 50 10

Switzerland 95 113 34 19 82 13

France 69 146 50 16 77 21

Norway 47 22 21 19 22 9

Finland 65 16 18 21 16 7

Iceland 40 20 14 17 18 7

Table 1.3

Mean quantities (grams of pure alcohol) per drinking day by beverage type

Source: Drinking patterns and their gender differences in Europe (Mäkelä et al., 2006) Evidence has shown that some traditional European differences in beverage

preference are diminishing. In the past, evidence suggested that beer-producing countries like Northern Europe had a preference for beer while wine-producing countries like Southern Europe had a preference for wine. However, beer is now the most consumed beverage type in Spain, while in Sweden it is wine (Ritchie &

Valentin, 2011). Wine consumption is also on the rise in the UK, and traditional wine drinking countries in Europe, particularly France, are witnessing a marked decrease in wine consumption and an increase in beer consumption (Ritchie, 2009). The rise in wine consumption in the UK has been suggested to be down to a number of reasons.

Firstly, Ritchie (2009, 2011) suggests that the interaction with wine consumption started in the 1970’s and 1980’s when wine became more accessible by being available in the supermarkets. Secondly, the research is pretty consistent when it suggests the link between food and wine (Charters, 2006; Olsen et al. 2007). In the UK there has been a marked increase in eating-out over the last 20 years, and this has therefore influenced and normalised wine purchasing in non-traditional venues such

Men Women

Beer Wine Spirits Beer Wine Spirits

Sweden 61 35 45 29 35 27

Czech Republic 57 49 44 26 41 29

Germany 37 33 15 19 37 12

Switzerland 95 113 34 19 82 13

France 69 146 50 16 77 21

Norway 41 36 62 29 31 32

Finland 39 26 49 21 21 24

Iceland 36 29 49 21 21 24

Austria 40 36 29 24 25 22

Hungary 31 19 22 15 10 14

as pubs. Wine is also the preferred drink type when eating a meal at home (Ritchie, 2011). Thirdly, because of the unit size, wine allows for sharing and inclusivity amongst peers, particularly among women. Lastly, it has been suggested that wine purchasing among young adults (18-24 years old) is for consuming at home, often pre-loading before going out and consuming other types of alcoholic drink (Ritchie, Ritchie & Ward, 2009a; Ritchie, Ritchie & Ward, 2009b).

1.6.1.1 Adolescent beverage preferences

The 2011 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) included data from over 100,000 students aged between 15 and 16 years across 36 European countries. Overall, they reported that the most commonly consumed beverage type consumed in the past 30 days was beer (47% on average), followed by wine and spirits (37-38%), alcopops (32%), then cider (27%). Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Germany scored the highest in beer consumption. Cider was most common in Denmark (59%), followed by the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (approximately 40%). Cyprus, Denmark, Germany and Italy scored particularly high in the use of alcopops. A preference for wine was reported by 63%

of the students in Monaco, 55% in Croatia, Hungary, Moldova and Malta. For spirits the rate was the highest in Malta (63%), closely followed by the Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece at around 57%. Iceland scored the lowest or second lowest for all beverage types (Hibell et al., 2011).

A study in Italy administered self-report questionnaires on drinking motives and amount of alcohol consumed to 784 adolescents, aged between 15 and 19. They found that 15 to 19 year olds had a preference for spirits (77%) or beer (73%), followed by wine (69%), then alcopops (62%). Preference was calculated by how many times the adolescents reported drinking that beverage type at least 2 times a month in the last 6 months (Graziano, Bina, Giannotta, & Ciairano, 2012).

Finally, a study conducted in the USA analysed data from a 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) (a school-based questionnaire survey of 9^th to 12^th grade students, in eight states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Vermont), and included a question on the type of alcohol usually consumed for those respondents who reported consuming alcohol in the last 30 days

years old, spirits was the preferred beverage type (43.8%), followed by beer (19.2%), malt beverages (17.4%) and a very low preference for wine (7%) (Siegel et al., 2011).

It can be concluded that there are different and changing patterns of alcohol

preference across countries and regions. In non-European countries spirits seem to be the predominant beverage consumed in South East Asia, Western Pacific countries and by 12 to18 year olds in America. However across Europe, wine is the most consumed beverage type, with women in Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and France consuming wine in the largest quantity along with French males; and males in Switzerland, France, Czech Republic and Norway also having a preference for beer. Spirits are the most consumed beverage type in Eastern European countries, followed by France, Switzerland and Norway. Among the adolescent populations the evidence shows a preference for beer and spirits across Europe and America.