USA TODAY reports that beer, the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States, has an image crisis. While it is still the nation’s favorite alcoholic beverage, it continues to lose ground to wine and spirits.
Beer Marketer’s Insights, a trade publication, estimates beer accounted for 59.5% of the alcohol market in its peak year, 1995. That had fallen to 56.7% in 2003.
“We believe there is an overall image crisis with beer,” says Smith Barney Citicorp analyst Bonnie Herzog.
As baby boomers age, they are more willing to buy wine and spirits. And wine and spirit companies are successfully targeting younger drinkers with advertising and promotions.
“Our wholesaler contacts have told us through a survey we conducted recently that beer has lost its ‘sexiness’ and ‘appeal to young consumers,'” Herzog says. “We continue to believe the road ahead is a long one for the beer industry.”
