Premium Spirits, Accessible Wine, Imported and Craft Beers Lead Continued Beverage Alcohol Industry Growth
Posted on: Monday, 2 April 2007, 15:00 CDT
NORWALK, Conn., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers trading up to higher- priced spirits, a plethora of wines designed to appeal to new customers, and steady popularity of expensive imports and craft beers continued to drive growth in the beverage alcohol business in the United States last year. All three segments -- spirits, wine and beer -- in the United States posted gains in case volume and retail sales, according to the just-released 2007 edition of the Adams Handbook Advance published by Adams Beverage Group, a division of business publisher M2MEDIA360.
"The industry is continuing to create and market products that are finding great resonance with American consumers today, and their willingness to pay more in every category proves it," said Charles Forman, vice president and group publisher, Adams Beverage Group.
The U.S. distilled spirits industry was up for the ninth consecutive year in 2006. Total spirits consumption climbed 3.7% to 176.6 million 9-liter cases. Wine sales continued to rise for the 13th year in a row, increasing 3.4% and reaching 283.1 million 9-liter cases. And beer -- the largest beverage alcohol segment -- rebounded from last year's slight decline, increasing 1.3% to 2.86 billion 2.25-gallon cases.
High-end products, and imports in particular, across all categories continued to outperform the business as a whole. For example, in 2005 imported spirits accounted for 38.9% of consumption. By 2006, that figure reached 39.7%.
Flavored spirits have also continued to grow, reaching beyond vodka and rum and emerging in tequila, whiskey and even the cognac segments. Of the 12 segments of distilled spirits, only blended whiskies, Canadian whiskies and prepared cocktails lost volume in 2006.
Meanwhile, vodka continued to boom, fueled by the cocktail craze, up 6.7%, with imports leading the way (up 13.9% versus 3.6% for domestics). Vodka now accounts for a stunning 27.9% of the spirits business. Rum, the second largest category, grew for the 12th straight year, up 3.5%.
Among table wines, which account for more than 91% of U.S. wine consumption, imports and "critter" wines, those wines with fanciful packages and named for penguins, kangaroos and other animals, were the leading gainers. Imported table wines grew at a considerably faster rate last year (+5.6%) versus domestics (+3.7%). Overall imported wine -- including champagne, sparkling, dessert, fortified, vermouth and aperitif -- grew 5.6% among imports and 2.7% among domestic wines.
On the beer front, crafts, lights and imports advanced, while premium, popular, malt liquor, ice and flavored malt beverages sagged. Total beer consumption rose 1.3% or 31.4 million cases to 2.86 billion 2.25 gallon cases. Light beers grew 2.4% and now represent 51.1% of the whole beer market.
Retail dollar sales for the beverage alcohol market climbed last year as well, with on-premise sales up 9.2%, or $8 billion, to $93.9 billion. Off- premise sales were up 5.6% or $4.3 billion to $82.3 billion. Total sales for 2006 reached $176.2 billion in 2006.
The Adams Handbook Advance 2007 contains beer, wine and spirit consumption by category, state and metro market. Brand data, retail sales, consumer demographics, and industry statistics are included. The cost of the publication is $685 (with CD, $850). Visit http://www.beveragehandbooks.com/ to purchase this or any other Adams handbooks.
The Adams Beverage Group, a division of M2MEDIA360, serves all aspects of the beverage alcohol industry through Cheers, Beverage Dynamics and StateWays magazines, Adams Beverage Handbooks, Adams Business Research and http://www.adamsbevgroup.com/.
Contact: For editorial: Eric Schmidt 203-855-8499 eschmidt@m2media360.com For handbook sales: Cynthia Porter 630-762-8709 cporter@m2media360.com
Adams Beverage Group
CONTACT: Editorial, Eric Schmidt, +1-203-855-8499,eschmidt@m2media360.com; for handbook sales, Cynthia Porter, +1-630-762-8709,cporter@m2media360.com, both of M2Media360
Web site: http://www.adamsbevgroup.com/http://www.beveragehandbooks.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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