• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

U.S. beverage alcohol volumes decline again in 2017, beer category declines substantially

May 30, 2018Pretty Much a Press Release

beer bar judge quality control
You, sir, are in decline.

Over the last 40 years, IWSR has built up the world’s largest database on the beverage alcohol market. It claims to understand the market, category and brand performances of products in 157 countries across the world using local market input. Occasionally, IWSR releases market reports, and occasionally we run those market reports because we find them interesting and insightful. Here’s one right now!

For the third year in a row total beverage alcohol consumption decreased -0.7 percent in the United States in 2017 due to a struggling beer category, according to the just-released IWSR US Beverage Alcohol Review (US BAR) database. Though wine and spirits experienced growth of 1 percent (3.5M 9-liter cases) and 2 percent (4.8M 9-liter cases) respectively, it was not enough to offset a massive decline in beer of 29.4M 9-liter cases (-1.1 percent), which holds the majority share of alcohol volume.

Continued pressure on domestic and light beer overshadowed growth in the import and craft sector. Despite total beverage alcohol volume loss, industry value continues to increase as consumers trade up to more quality products. The U.S. alcohol industry is valued at $157.7 billion, up 1.6 percent from the prior year. This has been led by spirits, most notably tequila (+7.3 percent), cognac (+9.3 percent) and U.S. whiskey (+5.5 percent). Both still wine (+0.9 percent) and sparkling wine (+4.3 percent) have enjoyed continued momentum as consumers gravitate toward alternative packaging and view wine as an everyday drinking occasion.

Key U.S. consumption trends in 2017:

  • 62 percent of the adult population consumed alcoholic beverages, down from 65 percent the year prior. People are drinking less, largely due to health concerns and a prevalent wellness trend affecting all social sectors.
  • The number of domestic wineries (12,335), breweries (8,863) and distilleries (2,531) increased by a combined 14 percent in 2017, which affects traditional on- and off-premise sales channels as consumers visit and make on-site purchases.
  • While total retail sales grew 4.4 percent from 2016, total e-commerce sales increased by 16 percent from 2016 to account for 8.9 percent of total retail sales. Through the importance of consumer convenience, e-commerce sales of beverage alcohol have become a significant sales driver.
  • Cross-category consumption and trend-driven innovation has led to a variety of hybrid products capitalizing on everything from rosé to barrel-ageing to non-alcoholic.

IWSR: How brands are adapting their social media strategy during COVID-19
Worldwide alcohol consumption declines by -1.6% in 2018 (beer continued to lose volume)
beer map world globe cbb crop
Has alcohol intake really jumped by as much as 70 percent? Will it continue?
Corona water mirror cbb crop
Mexican beer continues to show impressive growth, Americans drink more tequila than any other nation

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Father's Day Homebrew and the Gift of a Brewery - State of the Beer says:
    June 8, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    […] U.S. beverage alcohol volumes decline again in 2017, beer category declines substantially […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Athletic Brewing earns Certified B Corp status as it celebrates four years
  • 2022 Beer Branding Trends Part 2: Beyond Beer
  • Anderson Valley Brewing promotes price stability amid Big Beer price hikes: ‘We actually like our customers’
  • Ohio how has 400 craft breweries! Here are some other Buckeye beer stats to know

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • 2022 Beer Branding Trends Part 2: Beyond Beer
    May 23, 2022
  • The-IBA-TeamIBA hits milestone – 1 million bbls of buying power – what’s next for the co-op?
    May 19, 2022
  • 2022 beer branding trends part 1: reinvention
    May 17, 2022
  • satisfaction surveysAre brewery employees happy? Depends on the department
    May 16, 2022
  • Male hand closes hatch of brewery tankUnfiltered: Do I need to clean tanks between transfers?
    May 11, 2022
  • Hard seltzers: Achieve high alcohol fermentations in a clean and neutral way with the proper nutrient aids
    May 9, 2022

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2022 · CBB Media LLC

Posting....