Cullybackey folk ‘queuing up’ for Shloer

The small village of Cullybackey in Co Antrim has, for the third year in a row, been named as the top spot for sales of the festive non-alcoholic tipple Shloer.
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Shloer

Despite having a population of just over 2,500, around 12,200 bottles were sold in Eurospar on the village’s Main Street in the space of a week with shoppers buying crates of the soft drink.

The 45th and 46th week of the year has seen sales of the festive soft drink climb over the past three years, the local retailer has revealed.

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And this week Eurospar is selling the fruity drink for less than half price at 89p.

Manager Jonathan Mitchell said bottles of Shloer will be coming in “by the lorry load”.

“This is honestly the busiest week of the year for us.

“Shloer is the festive drink for Ballymena so we make sure to have enough stock to meet the demand. We are expecting queues and repeat customers.’’

Last year, sales of Shloer across all Spar and Eurospar stores peaked at over £596,000 in just one week, meaning the exclusive deal shifted over 670,000 bottles in just seven days in over 300 stores.

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And after Cullybackey, the top Shloer guzzlers’ towns and villages have been identified as neighbours Ballymoney, then Portadown, Kilkeel and Carryduff to round off the top five.

Mr Mitchell said it remains to be seen whether 2019 will break yet more records for Shloer purchases in Northern Ireland, but added there’s no denying it could well beat prosecco as the nation’s favourite Christmas drink.

Unlike most soft drinks, Shloer, which contains grape juice, is marketed towards adults exclusively.