Kerala’s liquor policy has not really weaned many people away from the bottle, but there is a more pronounced shift to high alcohol beer, going by a dipstick survey conducted by the All India Brewers’ Association (AIBA) last month.
Tipplers aged above 35 would still reach out for their favourite brand of hard liquor, mostly brandy and rum, and domestic consumption of spirits has gone up, says Shobhan Roy, AIBA director general, referring to the survey carried out across Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Thrissur, and Kozhikode.
In all, 200 people including 128 liquor consumers – 106 men and 22 women – besides five bureaucrats, retailers and parlour operators were interviewed as part of the sample study. The association is now contemplating a no-holds-barred survey across the State before making a presentation, seeking policy amendments, before the government in the first week of January next year.
Mr. Roy said while consumption of spirits dipped in Kerala from nearly 20 lakh cases every month in 2013-14 to some 17.5 lakh cases a moth in 2014-15, average monthly sale of beer grew from about 9 lakh cases to about 12.5 lakh cases in the corresponding period.
With a percentage of the population making the switch from hard liquor to beer and wine, there’s a penchant for ‘strong, super strong and extra strong’ beer, all with an alcohol content of not more than 7 per cent, he said. “About 85 per cent of beer available in Kerala belongs to the ‘strong’ category, which actually spoils our name, as spirits contain 42 per cent alcohol.”
AIBA, however, is peeved about low-alcohol beverages being sold along with hard liquor and would want them to be ‘moved away to correct people’s perception”.
It wants the government to impose duty on beer on the basis of its alcohol content, not based on volume.
