DJ Americans Are Drinking Less Alcohol
By Saabira Chaudhuri and Jennifer Maloney
Americans are increasingly laying off the booze, prompting the world's biggest brewers and liquor companies to push beyond their traditional fare and roll out teas, energy drinks and nonalcoholic spirits.
New data show that U.S. alcohol volumes dropped 0.8% last year, slightly steeper than the 0.7% decline in 2017. Beer was worst hit, with volumes down 1.5% in 2018, compared with a 1.1% decline in 2017, while growth in wine and spirits slowed, according to data compiled for The Wall Street Journal by industry tracker IWSR.
The fall in alcohol volumes reflects "a growing trend toward mindful drinking or complete abstinence, particularly among the millennial cohort," says IWSR's U.S. head Brandy Rand. Wine grew by 0.4%, down from 1% the year before, while spirits climbed 1.9%, compared with 2.2% in 2017.
In response to the slowdown, alcohol makers are trying to diversify. Molson Coors Brewing Co. has turned to kombucha, Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA sells a spiked coconut water, and Smirnoff maker Diageo PLC wants teetotalers to start mixing cocktails with a pricey, alcohol-free gin alternative.
IWSR forecasts low- and no-alcohol products in the U.S. -- still a small slice of the market -- to grow 32.1% between 2018 and 2022, triple the category's growth over the past five years. IWSR's sales figures are based on products shipped.
Molson Coors, grappling with weak sales of Coors Light, wants to build out a broad portfolio of "brewed beverages," Chief Executive Mark Hunter said in an interview. That means beer, tea and perhaps even coffee, he said. The company has invested in Boulder, Co.-based Bhakti Chai Tea Co. and bought a California-based maker of kombucha -- a fizzy, fermented tea.
"We're certainly not sitting on our hands," Mr. Hunter said.
Industry executives say drinkers are increasingly concerned about health and that younger generations socialize differently to their parents, drinking less.
"Twenty years ago we didn't have coffee shops open late, and pubs and bars open for coffee," said Ben Branson, chief executive of nonalcoholic distilled spirit maker Seedlip Ltd., which is part owned by Diageo. "People are favoring experiences over 'lets go drink on a night out.'"
While booze makers are partly responding by pushing pricier tipples -- helping sales by value grow despite lower volumes -- they're also scrambling to offer a wider selection of drinks. Brewers, in particular, are under pressure as consumers abandon mainstream beer.
AB InBev last year created a new global position, head of nonalcoholic beverages, to lead its efforts to diversify. Nonalcoholic drinks -- including energy drinks and nonalcoholic beers -- already make up more than 10% of the Bud brewer's volumes. In 2017 it acquired Hiball Inc., a maker of organic energy drinks. AB InBev recently began selling Budweiser Prohibition brew -- a nonalcoholic version of its flagship beer -- in Columbus and Detroit. Nonalcoholic beer volumes in the U.S. are expected to climb 9.3% over the next five years, according to research firm Euromonitor.
The beer company also has stepped up its efforts to woo consumers defecting to wine and cocktails. Its craft-style breweries in Oregon, California and New York have served as incubators for new, boozy versions of coconut water, matcha tea and agua fresca, a Mexican fruit-juice drink.
The brewer plans to later this month launch a seltzer brand, Bon & Viv, which it will advertise alongside its beers at the Super Bowl.
"People are looking for something that tastes good but also allows them to live well," Chelsea Phillips, head of marketing for AB InBev's Beyond Beer division, said in an interview.
Volumes of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages jumped 6.1% last year, according to IWSR, driven by hard seltzers, which executives say appeal to consumers because of their low calories and sugar.
Distillers also are embracing the popularity of lower-alcohol drinks.
Late last year, Diageo launched a lower-alcohol, botanical version of Ketel One, which it said has 25% fewer calories than the regular vodka. Alcohol content is 30% compared with 40% in regular Ketel One.
Diageo Chief Executive Ivan Menezes said last year that adults opting for lower alcohol options was "an important trend over the next many years" and that the company was "putting a lot of focus behind it."
Diageo has been working to help expand Seedlip, in which it took a minority stake in 2016. The London-based brand, which can be drunk with tonic or used in cocktails, markets itself as solving the dilemma of "what to drink when you're not drinking."
Seedlip is available in 6,000 locations, including 500 in the U.S., where it recently opened its first office. The upscale brand sells three variants, which cost about $30 a bottle upward.
This spring, Seedlip plans to launch a new nonalcoholic brand called Æcorn Aperitifs, designed to be drunk before dinner. The liquid will be made from English grapes, herbs, roots and bitter botanicals, and is aimed at consumers who want a nonalcoholic option to drink with food.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com and Jennifer Maloney at jennifer.maloney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2019 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
DJ美國人正在減少飲酒
Saabira Chaudhuri和Jennifer Maloney
美國人越來越多地戒酒,促使世界上最大的釀酒廠和酒廠超越傳統飲食,推出茶、能量飲料和不含酒精的烈酒。
新的數據顯示,去年美國的酒精產量下降了0.8%,略高於2017年0.7%的降幅。據行業追蹤機構IWSR為“華爾街日報”(The Wall Street Journal)編制的數據顯示,啤酒受打擊最嚴重,2018年銷量下降1.5%,而2017年下降1.1%,而葡萄酒和烈酒的增長放緩。
IWSR美國首席執行官布蘭迪·蘭德(Brandy Rand)表示,飲酒量的下降反映了“一種日益增長的趨勢,即注意飲酒或完全禁慾,尤其是在千禧一代人羣中。”葡萄酒增長0.4%,低於去年的1%,而烈酒則從2017年的2.2%上升到1.9%。
為了應對經濟放緩,酒類製造商正試圖實現多元化。莫爾森庫爾釀酒公司百威啤酒製造商安海斯-布希英博(Anheuse-Busch InBev SA)已經轉向康普茶,銷售一種加了水的椰子水,而斯米爾諾夫(Smirnoff)製造商帝亞吉歐(Diageo PLC)希望酒鬼開始將雞尾酒與價格昂貴的無酒精杜松子酒混合。
IWSR預測,2018年至2022年期間,美國的低酒精和無酒精產品(仍佔市場的一小部分)將增長32.1%,是過去5年增長的三倍。IWSR的銷售數字是基於已發運的產品。
莫爾森·庫爾(MolsonCoors)在接受採訪時表示,該公司正努力應對CoorsLight銷售疲軟的問題,希望建立一個廣泛的“釀造飲料”組合。這意味着啤酒,茶,甚至咖啡,他説。該公司已投資於博爾德(Boulder,Co.)的Bhakti柴茶公司(Bhakti柴茶公司)。併購買了一家總部位於加州的康普茶(Kombucha)-一種汽化的發酵茶。
“我們當然不會袖手旁觀,”亨特説。
業內高管表示,飲酒者越來越關心健康問題,年輕一代的社交方式與父母不同,飲酒減少。
“20年前,我們沒有咖啡店營業到很晚,酒吧和酒吧也開着咖啡,”非酒精蒸餾酒精製造商西德利普有限公司(Seedlip Ltd.)的首席執行官本·布蘭森(Ben Branson)説。該公司是帝亞吉歐的一部分。“人們喜歡體驗,而不是‘晚上出去喝酒’。”
儘管酒類製造商的部分反應是推高價格-儘管銷量較低,但按價值計算,銷量仍在增長-但他們也在爭相提供更多種類的飲料。尤其是釀酒商,由於消費者放棄主流啤酒,他們面臨着壓力。
百威英博(AB InBev)去年設立了一個新的全球職位,即非酒精飲料主管,以領導其多元化努力。不含酒精的飲料-包括能量飲料和不含酒精的啤酒-已經佔到啤酒釀造者數量的10%以上。2017年,它收購了有機能源飲料製造商Hiball Inc.。AB英博最近開始在哥倫布和底特律銷售百威啤酒-一種非酒精的旗艦啤酒-百威啤酒。據研究機構歐睿(EuroMonitor)稱,未來五年,美國的非酒精啤酒銷量預計將增長9.3%。
這家啤酒公司還加大了招攬消費者的力度,以吸引那些不喜歡葡萄酒和雞尾酒的消費者。它在俄勒岡州、加利福尼亞州和紐約的工藝型啤酒廠已經成為椰子水、抹茶和墨西哥果汁飲料agua新鮮飲料的孵化器。
這家釀酒商計劃在本月晚些時候推出一個名為Bon&Viv的Seltzer品牌,它將在超級碗(SuperBowl)上與啤酒一起做廣告。
ABInBev‘sBeyBeBeer部門的市場營銷主管切爾西·菲利普斯在接受採訪時説:“人們正在尋找好吃的東西,但同時也讓他們生活得很好。”
根據iwsr的數據,在硬式自助餐的推動下,去年即食酒精飲料的銷量躍升了6.1%,該公司高管表示,由於低卡路里和低糖分,這些飲料對消費者很有吸引力。
酒廠也在歡迎低酒精飲料的流行。
去年年底,帝亞吉歐推出了一款低酒精、植物學版本的Ketel One,據説它比普通伏特加少了25%的卡路里。醇含量為30%,而普通Ketel含量為40%。
帝亞吉歐首席執行官伊萬·梅內澤斯(Ivan Meneze)去年表示,成年人選擇低酒精選擇是“未來多年的一個重要趨勢”,該公司正“把很多注意力放在後面。”
帝亞吉歐一直致力於擴張西德利普,該公司在2016年獲得了少數股權。這家總部位於倫敦的品牌,可以與奎寧一起飲用,也可以在雞尾酒中使用,它本身就能解決“不喝酒時該喝什麼”的困境。
西德利普在6,000個地點都有售,其中包括在美國的500家,該公司最近在美國開設了第一家辦事處。這個高檔品牌銷售三種變種,每瓶以上售價約為30美元。
今年春天,西德利普計劃推出一種新的非酒精品牌,名為艾爾玉米開胃酒,專為晚餐前飲用而設計。這種液體將由英國葡萄、草本、根和苦味植物製成,針對的是那些想要選擇不含酒精的食品飲料的消費者。
寫信給saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com的Saabira Chaudhuri和jennifer.maloney@wsj.com的Jennifer Maloney
(完)道瓊斯通訊社
January 17, 2019 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT)
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