The interest in the search term “alcopop” in the Google search engine reached a maximum in 2004, which quickly evaporated in the following years. Google assigns a score from 1 to 100 to assess how important a term is in user searches. The term now has a value of 2. The thesis is supported by a look at Austria: the Ministry of Social Affairs there recorded a slump in sales of alcopops from 12.3 million to 4.7 million liters from 2003 to 2005 – without the introduction of a tax.
In Great Britain, a sugar tax was passed in 2018, which is also being discussed in some places here. In 2021, Britons ranked fifth among OECD countries for overweight and obesity. 63.7 percent of the population fell into this category, with the proportion of obese people having been rising steadily since the 1970s, according to figures from the World Health Organization.
Since 2018, manufacturers have had to pay a tax on drinks that contain at least 5 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters. Since then, tax revenue has increased almost every year. It should also be noted that total sales of drinks subject to the tax are increasing slightly. In the 2019 financial year it was around 1.56 billion liters, then in 2023 it was 1.73 billion liters.
The British thirst for sweet drinks does not seem to be quenched; in fact, it is actually increasing. But the manufacturers are moving towards this. It turned out that they had already changed their recipes in preparation for the tax and in 2018 only 8.4 percent of the non-alcoholic beverage market was relevant for the tax. According to data from the market research company Nielsen, buyers were already turning to sugar-free or low-sugar alternatives more often. The trend continues.
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