A trial of Asahi’s new free-standing Peroni chillers across 10 Spar stores has resulted in a 42% increase in sales.

The initiative is now rolling out to 650 retailers nationally, including symbol groups and unaffiliated stores.

Andy Turley, director of sales, convenience, for Asahi, said: “Consumers are seeking bigger and better, with quality and choice also being prevalent as trends amongst our customers. For example, the new 10-pack can format of Peroni Nastro Azzurro has achieved notable success, and has been held up as a great solution by our convenience customers.”

“Social distancing measures and guidelines have encouraged retailers to look closely at what they are offering and what people are buying more than ever before. It is about making best use of the space they have available to both service their customers and drive their commercial capabilities. We believe displays and free standing units serve customers invaluably.”

Commenting on the support received from Asahi in recent weeks, Lee Wild, Costcutter beer and cider category manager, said beer is significantly up year on year with shoppers continuing to buy bigger pack formats from convenience stores.

“We have responded by stocking larger pack formats, such as 18, 20 and 24-packs, including the new Peroni Nastro Azzurro 24-pack, which have proved to be a big success.,” he added.

“In the early days of lockdown, Asahi also maintained good communication and a largely uninterrupted supply chain, which was invaluable when we wanted to meet the demands of our customers.”

Similarly, Sam Yeadon, ciders, ales & stouts trading controller at Nisa Retail, revealed Nisa had experienced “significant uplift of 40% year on year in premium and world beer”, likewise driven by larger pack formats.

“As we start to see lockdown ease, I believe the smaller packs will have more relevance again in convenience. I still see the demand staying within the convenience sector as a lot of consumers do not want to stand in queues at the supermarkets,” he said.