The booze cruise is back in fashion as shoppers stock up on cheap wine from across the Channel before the Brexit deadline on 29 March.
Sales at Majestic Wine’s Calais stores soared 49% last month and pre-orders are up 78% in March as shoppers take advantage of France’s low alcohol taxes while they can.
Nearby Calais Wine Superstore said its pre-orders for March are up 100% and sales are up 51% since January.
The huge increase in Calais sales comes amid evidence that one in 10 Britons have begun stockpiling groceries while a further 26% are considering doing so.
Food cupboard essentials such as tinned foods, household goods such as toilet paper, medicines and toiletries are top of the list for those filling their cupboards according to a survey by retail analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel. But nearly 17% said they were considering stockpiling alcohol.
The booze cruise phenomenon kicked off in the 1990s, but its popularity has soared again in the light of growing uncertainty over the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
“Since March it has gone ballistic,” said Marco Attard, co-owner of Calais Wine Superstore, which served about two and a half times as many shoppers last week as the same week last year. The retailer sold as many bottles of wine on Saturday as it had sold in the whole week last year. “It’s all about Brexit. People don’t want to miss out,” Attard said. “I’ve been in this business since 1993 and I have never seen anything like this.”
He said sparkling wine was particularly popular with shoppers, the majority of whom now take their cars via Eurotunnel rather than the ferry. Both Majestic Wine and Calais Wine Superstore have long encouraged visitors by offering those spending more than £250 free travel by boat or train.
Majestic Wine said that exchange rates were not as favourable as 20 years ago, but shoppers could still make an average saving of £3 a bottle because of lower taxes.
“This is a new generation of cruiser millennials,” said Joshua Lincoln, managing director of Majestic Wine. “It’s couples getting ready for their summer weddings now. It’s day trippers from the Scottish Highlands taking on a mammoth trek. It’s not necessarily people buying as much as they can, as cheaply as they can.”
Shoppers, food suppliers and retailers are bracing for a potential £9bn food price shock if there is a no-deal Brexit as analysts predict the cost of staples such as beef, cheddar cheese and tomatoes could soar.
With less than a month until the Brexit deadline, the government is this week expected to announce plans to mitigate the impact of an unplanned exit with new import taxes, or tariffs, on 5,200 products, including food and clothing.
The relationship with the EU is key to the price of food because nearly a third of the food eaten in the UK comes from the bloc. In spring the situation is more acute because, with UK produce out of season, 90% of lettuces, 80% of tomatoes and 70% of soft fruit is sourced from, or via, the EU.
