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The pandemic wrought swift and decisive changes that affected where we drink
Credit: JAMES ANDREWS
Drink trends usually move like cross-channel ferries. Slow to get going, you see them ploughing over the horizon long before they arrive, then they carry on chugging away even as people are hailing the next great new thing.
This year has been different. The pandemic wrought swift and decisive changes that affected where we drink, with whom we drink and where we buy from, as well as what and even how much we consume.
The immediate effect of the spring lockdown was to send drinkers stymied by the lack of supermarket delivery slots and empty supermarket shelves skittering into the delighted arms of local and online merchants. Many such smaller retailers experienced the sales volumes usually seen in Christmas week over and over again through March, April and May. Those buying from independent shops must have enjoyed the experience because they continued to give them some – if not al