Tesco expects moderation trend to curb festive alcohol sales

By James Davey

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket group, believes a growing trend towards moderation and healthier living could curb alcohol sales this Christmas, its boss said on Thursday.

"I do think it could be a marginally healthier Christmas," Tesco CEO Ken Murphy told reporters after the group published first half results.

"There might be a more moderate Christmas from an alcohol point of view," he said, citing expectations of strong growth in sales of low- and no-alcohol ranges.

Tesco has a 28% share of Britain's grocery market.

Murphy said a broad shift towards healthier lifestyles, which gathered pace during the COVID pandemic and has continued since, was driving changes in shopping habits.

"You're seeing customers generally looking for healthier meals, looking for higher protein, higher fibre, more nutritionally balanced meals, smaller portion sizes, low- and no-alcohol alternatives (and) healthy desserts," he said.

Murphy said the rise of weight-loss drugs, including new oral GLP-1 treatments, was helping reinforce the shift towards healthier consumption habits, though he stopped short of identifying it as the main catalyst.

"We think that the GLP-1 effect is just a component of that, rather than the driver itself," he said.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Joe Bavier)