Few takers for beer during new year celebrations in Hyderabad

One of the reasons for the lukewarm response for beer was the cost factor

Hyderabad: Tipplers in the city gave ‘chilled beer’ the skip this new year’s eve celebrations given the dipping temperatures coupled with the fear that consuming something chilled could invite trouble (read novel coronavirus).

Liquor shop owners who normallly stack enough beer bottles in refrigerators and even keep standby stocks chilled in drum filled with ice, found that the favourite drink had few takers as most preferred to go in for the warmth of a whisky, rum or vodka.

“Health experts had also advised people to be more cautious in the wake of the new UK strain of Covid-19, and this had the customers avoiding beer,” a liquor shop owner in Secunderabad said.

Another reason for the lukewarm response for the beer was the cost factor. Instead of buying a Knockout strong beer costing at Rs.120, many customers preferred to buy a quarter bottle of McDowell’s whisky costing Rs.140 that provided more ‘kick’ for a additional Rs 20 more.

“As alcohol content is higher in whisky than beer, customers are buying only hard liquor,” the shopkeeper said.

The Prohibition and Excise department generated revenue of Rs 194 crore on December 31. Shop owners purchased stocks from TSBCL depots after placing additional indents to meet the customer demand. Of the total revenue generated on December 31, hard liquor sales value was much higher than beer.

Telangana Wine Dealers Association President D Venkateshwara Rao said the sales volumes were same this time when compared to the last year, this despite the Covid-19 threat.

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