Alcohol consumption is decreasing and “the movement is here to stay”, according to an analysis published by DigitalFoodLab.
“The sector is so widely affected that flat sales such as those of Diageo are seen as positive news,” wrote the innovation consultancy’s co-founder Matthieu Vincent. “Even luxury brands are affected by the decline (even if the reasons are different), with companies like Moët Hennessy, the consortium of high-end spirits and champagnes of LVMH, going through its own crisis,” he added.
There are a number of factors at play but health is undoubtedly one of them. For example, the majority of Americans now believe that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for their health, noted research firm Gallup following a recent survey. The percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup’s nearly 90-year trend.
The impacts of this downward trend are being felt across the drinks sector, said Vincent. The hype for craft beer has dyed down, for example, while UK pubs continue to close at a rate of around one per week.
Nearly half of UK adults who say they drink alcohol (48%) plan to stop drinking alcohol or reduce the amount of alcohol they drink over the next year, according to research by Aviva, an insurance firm. Just under one in ten of these (9%) say they plan to completely stop drinking alcohol altogether. The younger generation are most likely to cut down their alcohol intake.
Aviva’s survey also shows that many people are unsure about the recommended maximum level of alcohol they can drink to help control the risk to their health.
In Europe, daily consumption is declining but occasional binge-drinking is on the rise, according to reports last year. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned that alcohol still remains “too cheap” in Europe, a region that continues to report the highest alcohol consumption per capita in the world.
