Buckfast sales reach £26.9m

Sales of the controversial tonic wine Buckfast grew by £2 million last year to reach £26.9m – a rise prompted by increased demand in England.

Buckfast Tonic has been made by the Benedictine monks in Devon since the 1920s

As reported by The Grocer, the tonic wine saw sales rise by 7.9%, an increase sales manager Stewart Wilson has attributed to greater demand south of the Scottish border.

“With some of the larger groups that we have on board, they are seeing growth down south, which would indicate that they’re picking up new business,” said Wilson.

With volumes up by 7.1%, Buckfast is the 91^st biggest alcohol brand in Britain, according to The Grocer’s latest rankings, with data supplied by Nielsen.

This follows news that in the 2014/14 financial year, Buckfast sales generated a record £8.8m for the producers’ charitable trust.

Despite its success, Buckfast’s reputation is frequently tarnished by its association with violence and antisocial behaviour – an article in the Telegraph dated April 2017 stated that it had been associated with 6,500 reports of such behaviour in the last two years.

Yesterday, the Daily Record published an article entitled ‘Buckfast bottle thug caught on camera moments before lobbing missile at Leigh Griffiths,’ including a photo of Celtic striker Griffiths showing an empty bottle of Buckfast to the referee.

In an effort to improve its image, Buckfast enlisted the help of Michelin-starred chef Martin Blunos to create a series of dishes using the tonic wine.

Buckfast is not stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons and instead relies on sales in Co-op and other convenience stores.