America's Wine Consumption Down For First Time In 25 Years, Report Says
NEW YORK (CBS) – Americans aren't drinking wine like they used to. A new report from drinks market analyst IWSR says total wine consumption dropped in the United States last year for the first time in 25 years.
Wine posted a .9% volume loss, and beer was down for the fourth year in a row with a 2.3% volume loss. Cider also dropped 3.8%.
But "total beverage alcohol" consumption in the country was up slightly. Distilled spirits saw growth, with more people drinking mescal, whiskey and cognac. Tito's Handmade Vodka is now America's top-selling distilled spirit, overtaking Smirnoff, the report found.
And volume of ready-to-drink products grew by almost 50% last year, "thanks in large part to the tremendous popularity of hard seltzers (brands such as White Claw and Truly)." Hard seltzer volume is predicted to triple by 2023. Canned cocktails are also rising in popularity.
"The beverage alcohol industry in the US continued to innovate in 2019, especially in the ready-to-drink category, as the fight for consumption occasions intensified across all categories, something we fully expect to see in 2020 as well," IWSR COO Brandy Rand said in the report.
