Boom for sparkling wine and beer sales during Royal Wedding celebrations

The Royal Wedding was watched by an estimated 1.9 billion people. Street parties and pub events were part of the celebrations in the UK.

According to IRI retail data, sparkling wine sales of £20.7m ($27.5m) for the week ending May 19 were up 12.5% on the previous week and up 36.6% on the same period last year. Spirits saw a slight increase of 0.8%, worth £60m ($79.8m) to supermarkets. A 3% decline in still wine, beer and cider was attributed to people trading up for the occasion.

Soft drinks were down 4.3% and water was down 6.7%.

Meanwhile, supermarket sales of baking products were up 5.6% and sugar and sweeteners were up 5.8%; while cake sales were up 9.3% (on the previous week).

The British Beer and Pub Association estimates that an extra £20m ($26.6m) was spent in pubs on Saturday 19; thanks not only to the Royal Wedding but also the FA Cup Final, which was broadcast in the evening. Licensing hours were extended by two hours from 11pm to 1am on Friday 18 and Saturday 19.  

Beer and food are believed to have benefited most from the bumper weekend in pubs, with food sales predicted to have increased by 8% and beer sales predicted to have increased by 5%.