Search: Supermarkets drink deals
Supermarkets have been curbing promotions on alcoholic drinks, it is reported.
The number of deals is falling and alcohol prices are rising, according to research published by The Grocer magazine.
Last January, deals on alcoholic drinks made up 26% of all promotions in key areas of supermarkets, the magazine said.
The equivalent figure this year is 22%, it added.
Fresh food - fruit, vegetables, fresh meat and dairy - are expanding to fill the space that drink deals used to take up, the magazine said.
In the big four supermarket chains - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco - fresh food offers have increased from 11.5% of all offers to 14%, a solid 20% increase year-on-year, it said.
This trend was most marked at Asda, where drink deals fell from 27% of the total to 13%, while at Morrisons, promotions dedicated to fruit and vegetables rose from nothing in January 2009 to 2% in the same period this year.
Separate research commissioned by the magazine on Christmas drink pricing also "scotched the myth" that retail drinks prices are constantly being pushed lower.
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While drinks were being heavily promoted for the festive season, research on top-selling lines showed that, on average, alcohol was selling for 2% to 5% more in the run-up to Christmas than the year before.
The research comes as politicians are working on ways to combat disorderly behaviour caused by people abusing alcohol, with suggestions of the introduction of minimum pricing.
