Spirits In The Sky: The Spirits Industry On The Rise as Beer and Wine Falls

The past few years have not been kind to the beer and wine industry.  Reported in a Wall Street Journal article by writers Saabrina Chaudhuri and Jennifer Maloney, the alcohol industry as a whole has declined 0.3% over the past five years and last year took an even steeper drop with a 1.3% decline.  However, beer volumes fell a whopping 1.8% around the world and wine declined .08%.  However, Hard alcoholic drinks such as gin, tequila, and whiskey have seen an increase of .04%.

These numbers underscore a trend in consumer tastes, going for stronger and more alcoholic drinks, with less volume.  Spirits are growing even faster with an increase of 2.6% last year and doubling beer and wine sales growth in 2016.

With this shift in tastes away from beer and wine, one must think about the ripple effect.  How will this change the tabletop industry?  With beer and wine on the decline, the need for these types of glassware should also decline while cocktail glassware should be increasing.  Everything is a chain reaction, and will this new trend continue to affect other areas of the industry?  Only time will tell.

In the meantime, time to upgrade your cocktail glass assortment.

To check out more information, click here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cocktails-win-liquor-consumption-around-the-world-outpaces-wine-and-beer-1497519008

-Sam Jones