The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had a story today that said beer sales were falling in Europe, and that people were drinking more wine and cocktails than in the past. Heineken and Interbrew have both reported a drop in sales of around six percent. I find this hard to believe.What have other people heard? Is it really just a switch to different brands, or is there really a drop.
Tom
There's really a drop. Have you googled other posts in this group? Demographics are changing, lifestyles are changing, preferences are changing. Breweries are shutting down or being absorbed in Germany. Belgian specialty breweries are surviving by developing export markets, because if they don't, they will die. And on and on it goes.
I can see it happening in the states for several reasons.
A lot of bars are going "smokeless." People just started to drink at home and stay home more.
DUI laws are getting tougher.
People are switching from domestic to craft or imported beers which cost more so they drink less.
If people drink at home, they're still drinking. And they have the ability to drink more for less money.
-- Joel Plutchak Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots
"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."
Tom, I work for a brew pub in PA and the only beer sales we've seen decline are some of the larger breweries, like Coors, Yeungling, Bud, etc. and a nice rise in our own brews, other local micros (stoudts, troegs) and a real nice rise in sales for beers such as Chimay and Ommegang Rare Vos. Seems like alot of people are into trying something different right now and they're not afraid to spend the extra money on their beer. Liquor sales have been fairly constant and wine - well, it's always up and down.
J--
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