117: The Drive to Socialize: Why Beer Demand Is Stronger Than You Think (ft. Andrew Heritage, Beer Institute)
Everybody wants one reason the beer industry is soft. Gen Z quit drinking. Spirits stole the share. Pick your headline. The Beer Institute's Chief Economist Andrew Heritage came on to blow most of those up with actual data. The short version: demand is a lot stronger than the doom takes make it sound. The consumer is just stressed, and beer is still the drink people protect when they go out.
In this episode, we break down:
🍺 Who actually makes the beer (2-3% of breweries move 96% of the volume)
📊 The Gen Z myth and why they spend the same on alcohol as every generation before them
⛽ How gas prices and a stressed consumer, not category abandonment, are driving the soft weeks
🌡️ The weather math on beer sales
⚽ The World Cup effect on concession and on-premise sales
🥂 The drive to socialize and why on-premise keeps outperforming off-premise
Key takeaways:
There is no single reason for the softness. It is a stressed consumer, not people walking away from beer.
Gen Z is not quitting. They are broke, and they still pick beer over the emerging categories.
On-premise is holding because people protect the occasion, not just the beer.
Weather and gas prices explain most of the week-to-week swings.
Build the occasion and they will come. You have more control locally than you give yourself credit for.
Andrew Heritage is Chief Economist at the Beer Institute, covering roughly 90% of industry volume. If you want someone who can separate the myths from the math, this is the one.
Want the deck? Email info@vxptech.com and we will share it.
Listen, learn, and enjoy what you do. Share with a friend if you love it.
🎧 Also on YouTube | 🔗 LinkedIn: Tapped In Sales / VXP
In this episode, we break down:
🍺 Who actually makes the beer (2-3% of breweries move 96% of the volume)
📊 The Gen Z myth and why they spend the same on alcohol as every generation before them
⛽ How gas prices and a stressed consumer, not category abandonment, are driving the soft weeks
🌡️ The weather math on beer sales
⚽ The World Cup effect on concession and on-premise sales
🥂 The drive to socialize and why on-premise keeps outperforming off-premise
Key takeaways:
There is no single reason for the softness. It is a stressed consumer, not people walking away from beer.
Gen Z is not quitting. They are broke, and they still pick beer over the emerging categories.
On-premise is holding because people protect the occasion, not just the beer.
Weather and gas prices explain most of the week-to-week swings.
Build the occasion and they will come. You have more control locally than you give yourself credit for.
Andrew Heritage is Chief Economist at the Beer Institute, covering roughly 90% of industry volume. If you want someone who can separate the myths from the math, this is the one.
Want the deck? Email info@vxptech.com and we will share it.
Listen, learn, and enjoy what you do. Share with a friend if you love it.
🎧 Also on YouTube | 🔗 LinkedIn: Tapped In Sales / VXP
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