Sláinte! Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day

With the U.S. Census reporting that roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population claims Irish ancestry, Catalina data insights show everyone’s a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. In looking at supermarket sales in the two weeks prior to the popular holiday celebrating Ireland’s patron saint in both March 2022 and 2021, purchases of Irish Beer increased by 395% and Irish Whiskey more than doubled. Every other alcohol category -- from domestic beer to flavored malt beverages and hard seltzers -- dropped slightly (-10% or less) during the same period.

Data also shows that Irish Beer and Whiskey buyers anticipate the after-effects of their celebrations, with purchases of Hangover Remedies, such as Herbal Dietary supplements, up 24% on St. Patrick’s Day.

Insights from Catalina’s Buyer Intelligence Platform also show that non-white ethnic groups under-index for Irish Beer during the year, except for the week prior to St. Patrick’s Day, when their share of buyers is the same as the average population.

Irish Whiskey drinkers are more likely to be meat eaters following Keto and Paleo lifestyles and their profile indexes higher for coffee, mint and spicy flavors. Catalina defines Irish Beer and Irish Whiskey buyers as those who made more than three purchases of these products in the 52 weeks ending March 3, 2023.

These purchase data insights are based on a few of the 1,700+ syndicated and custom segments in Catalina’s extensive audience catalog.