N.S. Booze, Cannabis Sales Spiked During Height Of Covid-19 Pandemic
HALIFAX — Sales at the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation spiked substantially during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, earlier this year.
The NSLC released its first-quarter financial results today, covering the period between April 1 and June 28. During that time, the crown corporation reported a whopping 6.8 percent increase in its profits.
Overall sales at the NSLC increased by 5.3 percent, to $184.2-million, off the back of jumps in both alcohol and cannabis sales.
Alcohol sales were up by five percent and made up just under $167-million of those sales, while cannabis sales surged 7.8 percent, to a total of $17.3-million.
To put those numbers in perspective, from September to December of 2019 (which included Christmas and other major holidays), the corporation sold just $168-million worth of alcohol and cannabis combined.
In a news release accompanying the new numbers, NSLC president and CEO Greg Hughes said the April-June period was “an unprecedented quarter” for the corporation.
The NSLC began seeing changes in shopping patterns in March. When Covid-19 was first confirmed in the province, fears about store closures combined with restaurants and bars shutting up shop lead to increased sales at NSLC stores.
People also started buying more at once, so they could cut down on trips to physical stores. That trend continued from April to June, as the NSLC saw a 24 percent drop in the number of transactions at its stores but a 46 percent hike in “average basket size.”
The corporation also saw a dramatic fall (close to 90 percent) in sales to licensees like bars, restaurants, and pubs.
Changes in consumer taste also continue to play out in the NSLC sales data.
Last quarter, beer sales were down four-and-a-half percent (to $67.4 million), while wine sales dropped by five-and-a-half percent (to $33.5 million). Sales of spirits, meanwhile, rose by more than 11 percent, to $44.2 million.
“Ready to drink” products like ciders and coolers accounted for almost $28 million of NSLC’s sales, which was a staggering jump of more than 65 percent.
That growth, the NSLC said, “was driven primarily by vodka coolers.