Covid and Wine (and Beer and Spirits)

 It looks as though U.S. wine sales will be flat for 2020. That's probably a relief for the wine biz. Sales had been growing since the end of the Great Recession though the growth rate dropped enough in 2019 to give some people concern. At the beginning of 2020 the predictions were for a leveling off of sales. Once the pandemic hit nobody had any idea.

The loss of on premise sales in bars and restaurants was made up for the willingness of the consumer to buy online and have the wine shipped. Wine shipping traditionally falls off in the heat of summer then picks up again as the weather cools and the holidays approach. Of course, the holidays won't be the big gatherings as in normal times. The spring shipping bump was kicked off by lots of social media advertising along with numerous sales. Maybe this needs to happen again.

You've gotta feel sorry for folks who live in places that don't allow alcohol shipments.

What people are buying is about the same with Chardonnay, Cabernet, red blends, and rosé selling well just as they were before. 

Of course, 2020 isn't over and neither is Covid. Restaurants and even bars are reopening in some areas. If this is successful then alcohol sales will increase. If this backfires and leads to more lockdowns then sales may decrease.

For this past summer spirits lead in total dollars as people bought lots and bought better brands (If I'm gonna die I might as well go out drinking the good shit)? Sauvignon Blanc saw the biggest growth in the wine market (and SB is a summer wine). 

The beer industry isn't doing so well with bars, concerts, and ballgames closed down to people. Prior to the pandemic craft brewers sold most of their product on premise at their own facility, at tap rooms, etc. The beer industry, large and small players, had a lot of kegs sitting around with no buyers when the lockdown happened. Small breweries took a big hit in sales for the first few months of the pandemic, but are slowly recovering as they've moved to packaging their beer for off premise consumption plus some are starting to reopen.

Remember these times? That was fun!

 All I know is once this is over (maybe next summer?) everyone is going to need a social drink or three.