Alcohol consumption and parties usually go hand in hand, but where there are no parties, social gathering and other entertainment events, it is expected that there would be significant losses for alcohol companies and distributors.

Earlier this week, it was reported that rum sales by J. Wray & Nephew Limited (JWN) slid €2.4 million, or the equivalent of $400 million, in the March quarter, as the company’s revenues have been pressured by social-distancing rules, including the shuttering of bars and places of entertainment as a coronavirus containment measure.

Thomas also noted that the carnival season, which starts in January and ends in April after Easter, would have been a prime period for alcohol consumption, but with carnival in Jamaica being postponed until October because of COVID-19, there was nothing to be gained for alcohol distributors.

“This is the carnival season, so where a lot of wine and spirit distributors would have projected a certain spike during the time, because there are usually a lot of pop-up fêtes and parties leading up to Road March, … there would have been a huge spike in alcohol consumption from December (last year) all the way to April,” he said.

The peak would have really been for April, because for road march, every band uses so much alcohol, that once you’re in that space, you would have seen a play and the cooler fêtes (leading up) would have encouraged a lot of purchases from consumers going to these fêtes,” Thomas explained.