A spirited British Christmas

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 4

A spirited British Christmas

By

ROBIN CHARTERIS

in London

Even though Britons are reported to be cutting down on their festive spirits, they will still spend some £2.5 billion ($6.9 billion) on alcoholic drinks this Christmas. The spirits of Christmas past — : gin, whisky, wine and beer — are facing fierce competition from the non-alcoholic spirits of Christmas present, according to a survey conducted for the Brewers’ Association. The drinking habits of 20,000 people across Britain were studied, showing that 14.9 per cent of the adult population is now teetotal, compared with 12.5 per cent six years ago. The biggest rise of nondrinkers has been among young people aged 25 to 34 — up by one-third from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. The trend towards heal-

thier living and the wider choice of alcohol-free beers and wines has boosted the numbers of non-drinkers, according to an insurance company which specialises in insuring teetotallers. “It is now fashionable, particularly among professionals, not to drink,” said Mr Geoffrey Williams, of Ansvar Insurance, Ltd. “If you are a yuppie (young upwardly mobile professional person) and drive a Porsche, you probably drink Perrier (mineral water).” There is also a change in attitude in the drinker’s view of non-drinkers. “It is more acceptable to be teetotal than it was and men are no longer thought to be wimps if they drink orange juice or Coca-Cola,” Mr Williams said. Total beer sales have declined by 11 per cent in Britain since 1980, but the 'i sale of "near” beers and

alcohol-free wines has boomed. All the main breweries now market at least one alcohol-free beer and at least one brewery chain now sells it on draught.. Even so, Britons will spend £2.5 billion ($6.9 billion) on drink this Christmas, says the Wine and Spirit Association, claiming sales of 26 million bottles of table wine, 56 million bottles of sherry and vermouth, eight million bottles of port, 17.5 million battles of sparkling wine, and 100 million bottles of spirits. While fewer Britons than before may be consuming those festive spirits, a record number will .not be eating the traditional turkey dinner either. About 1.7 million people will be tucking in to nut cutlet roasts, trimmed with textured soya protein pretending to be sausages, rounded off with .’animal fat-free L

Christmas pudding and washed down with additive-free vegetarian wine.

Five years ago there were half that number of vegetarians in Britain. In spite of less alcohol and turkey, Christmas in Britain should still go off with a bang, with every man, woman and child in the country expected to puli at least three Christmas crackers.

Tom Smith, Ltd, which claims to be the world’s biggest manufacturer of Christmas crackers, has produced one-third of the country’s expected total of 150 million crackers. It employs a full-time staff of 400 and 300 part-time workers.

The company’s production for Christmas 1987 began three weeks ago. The company’s founder, Tom Smith, a London baker and confectioner, is credited with the invention of the cracker in 1846. tf-.

While Smiths do produce a box of six crackers for £99 ($275), complete with digital watches, clocks and pens, the honour of making the most expensive Christmas cracker on the market goes to the famous Bond Street jewellers, Aspreys. Its appeal is two fold — it contains a balloon, a paper hat, and £30,000 ($82,500) diamond ring and it is guaranteed free from frightful jokes.

Aspreys will package anything in a cracker, a service it has offered with great success for the last three years.

Harrods’ premier cracker line is the Mayfair brand, a box of six for £B5 ($234), each containing a different and superior novelty, from a leather credit card holder to a slimline quartz clock. The range has proved popular with Americans, one of whom recently bought 18 boxes.