Universal Breweries must in fact regret that it did not launch its new beer a few years ago, in 2000 more precisely. At the turn of the millennium, according to the World Heath Organisation (WHO), Mauritius recorded its highest level of beer consumption in its history. That year, the adult population (over 15) knocked back nearly 2.3 litres of pure alcohol in beer only. The following year, we drank slightly less in an alcohol market that has been in decline. Since 1999, Mauritians have been falling out of love with the bottle, drinking less and less. From the dizzy heights of 1978, when people swallowed 4.6 litres of pure alcohol, our thirst for intoxication has been in free fall, only reaching a mini peak in 1999, only to fall again after. In 2001, we consumed 3.1 litres of pure alcohol, a fall of 1.5 litres. In between, there have been ups and downs, any increase sustained by beer consumption while the fall has been largely due to lack of interest in spirits.

The alcohol market in Mauritius has been largely sustained by beer and wine. Since 1995, there has been an unprecedented interest in the latter. However, while spirits suffered apparently unstoppable decline, beer consumption kept up the steady growth that it has known since the early 70s. Our choice of alcohol is interesting, reflecting the change in the composition of society. Within two years from 1978 to 1980, our intake of spirits had declined by one litre in terms of pure alcohol consumed. The baby boomers of the 70s clearly displayed a preference for beer, its consumption hovering around the one-litre mark. Compared to a decade before, when beer intake was half a litre of pure alcohol, our interest in brew had doubled. From then on, despite a decline in the late 70s, beer became the drink of the nation, overtaking spirits for the first time in 1990. In 1995, it delivered the coup de grace. Beer became the definite choice of Mauritians, who decreased their consumption of spirits dramatically in subsequent years to half a litre of pure alcohol.

Meanwhile, the 90s saw us become one of the richest nations in Africa as measured by GDP per capita. Not only did the economic fortunes of some change, but so did their palates. Wine, whose consumption had been almost insignificant until then, became the new fad. In 1999, we consumed the highest amount of wine in our history; nearly 0.8 litres of pure alcohol. By 2001, we were drinking more wine than spirits, the intake being just above the half-litre mark, while the “straights” dipped below that figure. However, our supposedly refined taste did not dampen our enthusiasm for beer. On the contrary, we swallowed even more brew. According to the WHO, 41.6% of the population were lifetime abstainers in 2003. That meant that less than two-thirds of us had developed an apparently insatiable thirst for beer.

The role of history

One of the oldest beverages produced by man, beer is thought to have originated from present day Iran. It dates bath to the 5th millennium BC, recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Beer was important to these two grain-growing regions. Later, the Romans, discovered beer too, but wine would take over as the preferred alcoholic beverage. Brewing remained a homemaker’s activity, designed for personal consumption. However, by the 14th and 15th centuries, it had started to morph into an artisan product, being brewed in pubs and monasteries. At the end of the 18th century, with the invention of the steam engine, industrialisation of beer became a reality. The rest, as we say, is history.

But history had a major role to play in the fate of beer. Since the industrial revolution took place in Europe, and the fact that hops were also cultivated in this region, its people developed a taste for the beverage. And, today, beer remains the drink of choice when it comes to intoxication in this part of the world. Ireland’s per capita consumption in 2001, according to the WHO, is just below 10 litres of pure alcohol, ranking the country among one of the heaviest drinkers in the world. The Czechs, also drifting close to the 10-litre mark, are the absolute beer drinkers, though the Irish are never far behind. Adding other beverages like wine and spirits, it is not difficult to see why the government considers that there is a drinking problem in the country.

In fact, a study carried out in 2003, reported that 30% of all road accidents and 40% of all fatal accidents were alcohol-related. Furthermore, 25% of those attending hospitals Accident and Emergency departments were because of alcohol-related problems. Of these, 13% were found to be clinically intoxicated. However, Ireland’s drinking experience is starting to slow down. The baby boomers are getting old, leaving the binge drinking behind and adopting a more sedentary lifestyle. However, that does not mean that the country’s overall alcohol consumption is plummeting. Far from it. Like the Mauritians, the Irish also recently acquired a taste for wine, driving up the alcohol tendency.

Increasing incomes

Mauritius, on the contrary, has been seeing a drop in the overall amount of alcohol consumed, largely due to the fall in popularity of spirits. Though newspaper headlines somewhat exaggerate the magnitude of the problem (a few teenagers caught drunk always make a good sensational headline) the situation is in fact changing. However, this is not to say that we have suddenly acquired a sober lifestyle. We are still drinking more today than 1970s levels. But this is largely due to the increase in disposable income in the country and young people’s willingness to embrace a lifestyle similar to the European one.

<B>Diren VALAYDEN</B>

<I>Outlook Correspondent in Dublin</I>