Poles losing taste for vodka

Photo: glowimages

According to data compiled by the Nielson research firm, sales for the first half of 2013 (calculated in litres) were some 5 percent lower than in the same period in 2012.

All in all, sales reached close to 4.8 billion zloty (1.1 billion euro) on the domestic market in the first six months of 2013, some 200 million zloty less (47.2 million euro) than in the opening half of 2012.

“Vodka is still the best-selling spirit in Poland, but we have ceased to be a typical vodka-drinking country,” reflected Leszek Wiwala, chairman of the Association of Employers of the Polish Spirits Industry, as cited by the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Meanwhile, sales of flavoured vodkas fell by 1 percent over the first half of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012.

Nevertheless, Wiwala believes that the flavoured vodka market will hold, owing to the popularity of such drinks with women.

“It's mainly women who go for flavoured alcohol, as is also evident in the beer market,” he said.

Wiwala also predicts that sales of whiskey will continue to strengthen.

After the fall of communism, beer soon became the best-selling alcoholic drink in Poland. In recent years, the wine market – which in the 1990s was still dominated by cheap Hungarian and Bulgarian varieties - has also seen a huge transformation. (nh)