Beer sales have gone through somewhat of a rollercoaster in recent years, caused by the industry disruptions of Covid-19. What’s the outlook heading into 2023? For answers to this question, and a broad look at other leading alcohol categories, we again turn to information that we have recently gathered.
As part of our ongoing tracking of the industry, the Beverage Information Group (the data-collecting sister company to our magazines) surveys our readers quarterly, collecting trends/sentiment data from distributors, on-premise and off-premise operators.
For our most recent study, conducted in November 2022, whiskey sales continued to slow a bit both on and off-premise. Tequila is back on top for bars and restaurants, followed by craft beer and whiskey, while tequila, whiskey, craft and imported beer were on equal footing for the retailers in terms of the categories having the biggest impact on sales.
Off-premise respondents said that declines in sales of domestic beer and sparkling wine were having the biggest impact on business; for the on-premise operators it was the decreased sales of cordials and liqueurs during the quarter. Sales of sparkling wine and liqueurs tend to pick up during the holiday season, so operators may have started seeing a lift in the categories after the survey was completed.
In rating their satisfaction as an operator/business executive based on current conditions, both on- and off-premise respondents were happier in November compared with the survey conducted this past August. The plurality of retail participants expect that they will likely exceed their sales plan for 2023, while the majority of bar/restaurant respondents expect they will meet their sale plans.
For more information about our beverage reader surveys and for pricing information about adding questions to upcoming surveys, contact Debbie Rittenberg at drittenberg@epgacceleration.com.
Feature photo by YesMore Content on Unsplash.
