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Scientists want bars to make wine servings smaller
The World Health Organization estimates that alcohol kills around three million people every year yet in 2024, the wine market in America is projected to generate upwards of $39 billion. This week, a new study has suggested that removing the largest wine glass available in pubs and bars notably reduces alcohol consumption but regulators and so-called experts are already taking shots at the results.
Removing the largest wine glass notably reduces drinking in adults
A new study from Cambridge University researchers has found that simply removing the largest serving size of glass available to adults reduces the amount of wine that they drink at bars and pubs.
The researchers teamed up with 21 businesses in the UK that had licenses to sell alcohol on-site, with data from 20 of those venues being included in the final analysis. Each site was asked to remove their largest serving-sized glass, typically of 250ml, with data collected over a four-week period.
They then compared the total volume of wine sold each day and the revenue generated against data from before the study began to see if glass sizes really did influence how much wine consumers tended to drink.
On average, customers drank around 8% less wine when the largest serving glass was unavailable over the course of an evening thats around 420ml of less wine sold per day, per venue.
Lead author Dr Eleni Mantzari explained: It looks like when the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didnt then drink the equivalent amount of wine.
People tend to consume a specific number of units in this case glasses regardless of portion size. So, someone might decide at the outset theyll limit themselves to a couple of glasses of wine, and with less alcohol in each glass they drink less overall.
Professor Dame Theresa Marteau added: Although the reduction in the amount of wine sold at each premise was relatively small, even a small reduction could make a meaningful contribution to population health.
How could this impact businesses like restaurants and bars?
If you are a restaurant, bar, or pub owner looking at this study, you might be tempted to wilfully ignore such results since at the end of the day, businesses rely on a consistent revenue stream and reducing product consumption might not be a priority.
However, the study found that there was no tangible difference in total daily revenue between sites, nor did it increase the sales of other alcoholic products like beer or cider.
This indicates that participating venues did not lose any money as a result of the decision to remove the larger glasses.
Cambridge University News notes that this was perhaps due to the higher profit margins of smaller serving sizes of wine, but the team also warned that the study wasnt intended to specifically track this data.
That being said, any major difference in alcohol consumption population-wide would need to come from the top, rather than on a per-venue basis since four of the 21 sites here also received complaints from customers on the lack of big glass options.
Not everyone agrees with the ‘serving size’ recommendations
Excessive alcohol consumption remains one of the most important and notoriously difficult challenges that health experts and regulators face today, both in the US and UK. Yet not everyone agreed with the findings of this study.
In fact, the leader of a British alcohol marketing regulator responded to the study by arguing that instead of removing the largest glass size option, venues should provide more options for smaller glasses:
Whilst we are vocally supportive of measures to increase moderation among drinkers, there should be more efforts to increase consumer choice in this area rather than to unnecessarily restrict it for instance the wider availability of 125ml glasses of wine and of lower strength alternatives.
This has been somewhat supported by the fact that the Cambridge researchers wanted to extend the study for beer; specifically, around the traditional pint being replaced by a 2/3 measure.
Unfortunately, the team were unable to find any pubs, bars, or restaurants willing to do this from almost 2,000 contacted.
In a similar sentiment to that of the alcohol marketing regulators, the director of a neoliberal thinktank told the Daily Mail that Public health officials should trust in the knowledge and insights of the hospitality sector instead.
This study is as airy as a poorly pulled pint. A sample size of only 21 sites over a year provides no statistically significant insights into the wider hospitality sector and alcohol consumption.
The head of a right-winged thinktank added: The researchers acknowledge wine drinkers ended up spending the same amount of money on less wine, but they portray this as a good thing.
They even suggest that the government should ban 250ml glasses. To be clear, getting more for your money is a good thing. If pubs think they can maximize profits by not using large glasses, that is up to them.
This research paper was published in Plos Medicine.
If you’ve been affected by this story you can contact American Addiction Centers on (877) 686-7688 or Talk To Frank on 0300 123 6600 in the UK.
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