2 hours ago
3
Name: Damp January.
Age: New.
It’s over thankfully, though in the UK we now seem to be into damp February. I read all the rain was driven by an unusual and powerful jet stream. Er, we’re not actually talking about that kind of damp January.
What kind are we’re talking about then? Like a not dry January.
That’s what I meant! As in, not alcohol free.
Oh. And how does damp January go then? Moderation, as opposed to abstinence.
To be honest, I normally only get to about 5 January anyway (unless there’s a weekend before then). Do you have any evidence? Where is this coming from? From Waitrose, as it happens.
Nice middle-class evidence then. Go on. Waitrose reports a “significant softening” of the dry January trend.
How soft are we talking? Alcohol sales in January this year, compared to other months, were down just 25%.
That still seems like a significant drop, no? It’s less so when compared with, say, January 2022, when alcohol sales were 42% lower on average. And the 2026 data suggests that of the 58% of the UK public aiming to cut back, a significant proportion (31%) opted for a damp January rather than a totally dry one.
I still think it might have something to do with all the rain we’ve had this year. Plus, possibly geopolitics. It’s hard not to give in when it’s so miserable out there. This is not just a UK thing: a survey of 1,869 American adults by consumer research firm Curion in late December found that people are no longer asking: “Can I go 30 days without drinking?”
Doesn’t January have 31 days? Hmmm, you could be right. Anyway, people are now asking: “How do I feel when I drink less – and what do I replace it with?”
Damp is the new dry? That’s exactly what Pierpaolo Petrassi said.
Waitrose’s head of beers, wines and spirits? The very same. And Petrassi went on to say that customers are moving “away from the ‘all-or-nothing’ mentality and instead look towards more mindful ‘damp’ moderation.”
Sounds more like a wellness trend than a test of willpower. Exactly. Katie Fellowes …
Senior vice-president of strategic insights at Curion? Yes!
I’d rather be head of beers, wines and spirits. But anyway ... Fellowes says that people electing for moderation over abstinence are more motivated by health – physical and mental – than diehard Dry Janners.
And are also less likely to fail? Quite. Cutting back rather than cutting out “delivers many of the benefits they want without the sense of punishment,” she says.
Do say: “I’ll drink to that.”
Don’t say: “Yeah, go on then, and another …”
