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What Are Aussie Baby Boomers Drinking?

1 minute read | Toby Jones, Director, Retail Industry Group | January 2018

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, Baby Boomers (Australians aged 55+) are a segment not to be ignored. Compared with the overall Australian 18+ population, this important demographic segment certainly enjoy a drink, with more than two-thirds saying they have consumed an alcoholic beverage in the past month, compared to just over half of Millennials (aged 18-34) and 64% of Gen X (aged 35-54).

In general, Baby Boomers also have more disposable income compared to five years ago – they have higher personal and household incomes, and are spending more on entertainment and recreational activities.

Baby boomersโ€™ favourite tipple is a glass of wine, and beer a close second favourite. They are also more likely to have had scotch or whiskey in the past month.

One-in-four Boomers keep an eye out for โ€˜good valueโ€™ when it comes to purchasing wines.ย However this is not at the cost of quality, as Boomers are 35% more likely to spend more for quality wines and spirits. They are also more likely to purchase wines that are โ€˜naturalโ€™ (natural in ingredients, brewing process and with no preservatives or additives) with almost half (44%) of baby boomers saying they have found some health benefits with drinking wine.

To reach Australian Boomers, retailers and brands should consider investing in catalogues, as Boomers are 30% more likely to have read an alcoholic-beverage-related catalogue in the past month. Boomers are also more likely to be heavy viewers of free-to-air TV, commercial radio and newspapers so an effective combination of mass as well as local advertising on these media channels is a good clue to reaching this group of wine lovers.

Source: Nielsen Consumer & Media View, National database, October 2016 โ€“ September 2017, Base: 18+