A German investment bank, Berenberg, has warned that social media culture is turning people off alcohol, and highlighted future struggles for Irish cider maker C&C Group.
According to Berenberg, younger generations, particularly those born in the 1990s, are drinking less alcohol, influenced by online platforms.
Online Influence
‘Social media culture has placed significant emphasis on vanity and looks, to which alcohol and smoking are not conducive,’ analysts at the German investment bank said.
‘People have been put off the consumption of alcohol that may lead them “going viral” for being “wasted on camera”.’
It said that 20 years of anti-drug, anti-smoking and anti-alcohol education have done its job; “it is no longer 'uncool' to not drink or take drugs”.
It also suggested that the culture of “isolated socialising” has limited the opportunities for people to drink, suggesting that the growth of smartphones has led to people meeting up less.
The bank has warned that C&C’s branded portfolio ‘faces a cocktail of top-line headwinds’, ranging from increased competition to negative consumer demographics.
It believes that the market expectations for the group are too high, despite the recent boost from the acquisition of UK wholesaler, Matthew Clark Bibendum.
Berenberg warned that this acquisition will not fix its issues, as it already has a big Scottish and Irish wholesalers, yet it still faces these challenges.
‘The issue is not with the route to market, as already proven by the group owning the leading wholesalers in Ireland and Scotland,’ it said, ‘but being unable to halt the decline in organic growth, through improved consumer pull.’
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
