Alcohol industry ‘totally dependent’ on ‘risky’ drinkers

Two new reports have revealed that people whose drinking habits are risking or harming their health account for most of the alcohol industry’s sales.

Problem drinkers are the industry’s best customers, according to two new studies

Investigation by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) in Australia, and a separate report by the UK’s Alcohol Health Alliance published by The Guardian, revealed that despite being a minority group, problem drinkers are the industry’s best customers.

In total 74.2% of alcohol sales in Australia are attributed to the 3.8 million “risky drinkers” who consume more than four standard drinks of alcohol a day, twice the country’s recommended health guidelines.

Meanwhile, in England, “hazardous” and “harmful” drinkers together make up 69% of sales. Of this, 38% was consumed by “hazardous” drinkers – people who exceed the old guidelines of 14 units a week for women and 21 for men – and the rest was consumed by “harmful drinkers” on more than 50 units a week for men or 35 for women.

In addition, approximately 10.8 million people in England drink at “risky levels” and 1.6 million may have “some level” of dependence on alcohol.

FARE’s findings, drawn from an analysis of the study Understanding Recent Trends in Australian Alcohol Consumption by the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR), revealed that if risky drinkers reduced their consumption to within the guidelines, the total alcohol consumed in Australia would decrease by 39% – or 38 million litres of pure alcohol.

FARE chief executive, Michael Thorn, said: “The alcohol industry is totally dependent on risky drinking. This is its dirty little secret. It’s an industry built on identifying, targeting and exploiting its best customers, and ensuring that almost four million Australians continue to misuse and abuse alcohol and are responsible for nearly three quarters of all the alcohol consumed by the nation.

“The alcohol industry markets this vague, undefined and unhelpful concept of ‘responsible drinking’ while all but ignoring the existence of the Australian drinking guidelines. Not because it might have a small impact on its bottom line, but because doing so would result in economic failure.”